Anlotinib Proves Safe and Effective as First- and Second-Line Treatment for SCLC

Anlotinib, a multi-targeted small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), demonstrated promising clinical efficacy as first-line maintenance and second-line treatment in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) with no new safety signals, according to a real-world observational study published in Frontiers in Oncology

“This study aimed to analyze real-world data on anlotinib to evaluate whether anlotinib could provide additional benefits to SCLC patients as first-line maintenance therapy and second-line treatments, as well as whether combination therapy with chemotherapy or immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) could further improve its efficacy,” wrote lead author Jing Yuan, Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China, and coauthors.

The study retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 109 patients with SCLC treated with anlotinib as first-line maintenance therapy or second- or third-line after progression on prior therapies and subsequent treatments at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between June 2018 and June 2020. Authors focused on analyzing short-term efficacy and survival, with p<0.05 indicating statistical significance.

Anlotinib monotherapy as first-line maintenance treatment yielded a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 6.3 months (limited phase = 11.7 months; extensive phase = 5.8 months) and median overall survival (OS) of 16.7 months (limited phase not reached; extensive phase = 12.6 months). Anlotinib as second-line treatment prolonged both PFS and OS when combined with chemotherapy vs anlotinib monotherapy alone (p<0.05). A chemotherapy combination regimen showed no improvement vs anlotinib monotherapy as third-line and above treatment in median PFS (3.6 months and 3.8 months, respectively; p = 0.398) or median OS (8.5 months vs not achieved, p=0.06). There were no new treatment-related adverse events identified in patients treated with anlotinib.

“We found further evidence for the use of anlotinib in first-line maintenance and second-line therapy, providing a new option for relapsed SCLC. In addition, we found that anlotinib had added benefit in combination with chemotherapy in second-line therapy; this was not observed in third-line therapy,” stated Dr Yuan and colleagues.

Source:

Yuan J, Cheng F, Xiao G, Wang X, Fan H. Efficacy and Safety of Anlotinib in the Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Real-World Observation Study. Front Oncol. 2022;12:917089. Published 2022 Jun 20. doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.917089