GEfitinib Plus viNOrelbine in Advanced EGFR Mutated NSCLC. GENOA Trial

In spite of the dramatic improvements obtained with EGFR-TKIs in patients affected by NSCLC with activating mutations of EGFR, a fraction of these patients (about 30%) do not respond to EGFR-TKIs or achieve a response of short duration. It has been suggested that these patients may be affected by additional mutations that confer resistance to EGFR-TKIs in spite of the presence of activating mutations of the EGFR gene. Pre-clinical studies show that the addition of chemotherapy to gefitinib may result in increased anti-proliferative activity, and subsequent clinical studies suggest that the synergic activity of gefitinib and chemotherapy can depend from the employed schedules (concurrent versus sequential). Additionally, data from phase I trials of gefitinib plus vinorelbine revealed a high incidence of severe hematological toxicity with concurrent administration, while sequential schedules resulted in a more manageable safety profile. On the basis of the aforementioned data, we hypothesize that the sequential combination of vinorelbine and gefitinib might result in improved outcomes (in terms of response and survival) in EGFR-mutated NSCLC over gefitinib alone with acceptable tolerability. The availability of an oral formulation of vinorelbine makes it possible to offer the patients an exclusively oral treatment.