Objective: To evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of apatinib alone or combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced squamous cell lung cancer.
Methods: Forty patients with advanced squamous cell lung carcinoma were enrolled in this study, who were treated in Xuzhou Central Hospital from 2014 to 2015. All patients underwent first-line or more chemotherapy. Patients were administrated with apatinib 425 mg/day, alone or combined with chemotherapy. The short-term efficacy was evaluated according to the RECIST criteria. The main safety event was evaluated by CTC-AE criteria.
Results: Among all the 40 patients, partial response in 5 cases, stable disease in 24 cases, progressive disease in 11 cases, overall response rate in 12.5%, disease control rate in 72.5%, the median progression-free survival was 3.7 months. The main adverse events were leukopenia, fatigue, and hypertension. Most of the adverse events were grade I and II level.
Conclusion: The use of apatinib alone or combined with chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic squamous cell lung carcinoma demonstrates a high response rate, favorable tolerability profile.
Keywords: Apatinib; nonsmall cell lung cancer; squamous cell lung cancer.