PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zhang, Jing
AU  - Zong, Yuan
AU  - Xu, Gang-Zhu
AU  - Xing, Ke
TI  - Erlotinib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2016.11.16267
DP  - 2016 Nov 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 1184--1190
VI  - 37
IP  - 11
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/37/11/1184.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/37/11/1184.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2016 Nov 01; 37
AB  - Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of erlotinib for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods: A systematic literature search was undertaken in June 2015. Phase II/III trials of erlotinib for the treatment of advanced HCC were included. A descriptive analysis was applied. The study was conducted in College of Medicine, Honghui Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, between June 2015 and January 2016.Results: Ten trials, comprising 9 phase II and one phase III trial, were included in the systematic review. The tumor response rate was 0% in 4 of the phase II trials, <10% in 3 of the phase II trials and the phase III trial, and >20% in 2 of the phase II trials. The disease control rate was 42.5-79.6% in most studies. Three studies reported a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 6.5-9.0 months, although PFS was <3.5 months in most studies. Most trials reported a median overall survival of 6.25-15.65 months. The most frequent grade 3/4 toxicities were fatigue (11.9%), diarrhea (10%), increased alanine and aspartate transaminases (7.3%), and rash/desquamation (6.9%).Conclusion: Erlotinib provides efficacious and well-tolerated treatment for advanced HCC. However, more detailed investigations of HCC pathogenesis and evaluation of sensitive patient subsets are needed to improve outcomes of patients with advanced HCC. Additional well-designed, randomized, controlled trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of erlotinib as monotherapy or combination with other drugs for advanced HCC.