Feasibility, tolerability, and efficacy of the concurrent addition of erlotinib to thoracic radiotherapy in locally advanced unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer: a Phase II trial

The combination of erlotinib with RT produced, in our study, a scarce clinical benefit in the treatment of unresectable or locally advanced NSCLC, limited to complete responses and longer CSS rate compared with RT alone. Increased toxicity events were associated with combined therapy, which mainly included cutaneous toxicity. In our opinion, further studies in molecularly unselected lung cancer patients treated with EGFR TKIs and RT are not indicated. The use of biomarkers for the identification of patients that are most likely to benefit from this treatment is an essential next step in the research of this condition.