One of the

predominant Fosbretabulin C-terminal phosphorylation sites of EGFR is Tyr1068, which used to represent ligand-induced activation of EGFR. Another site, Tyr1173, provides conflicting and confusing information of its correlation with EGFR mutations and predictive value to TKIs therapy [29–31]. Based on the fact that at least 10% of patients with EGFR wild-type respond to TKIs, it is critical to identify potential biomarkers which are helpful to select this subgroup of patients for EGFR-TKIs therapy. In this study, we hypothesized that activation of phosphorylated EGFR could provide predictive information to clinicians and serve as supplement to EGFR mutations for screening patients eligible for TKIs therapy, especially those without EGFR mutations. Patients and method Patients 205 patients with locally advanced and advanced NSCLC(stage IIIb and IV) treated in Beijing Cancer Hospital from January 2005 to June 2010 were enrolled. All patients had tumor tissues available for biomarkers analysis. Nineteen patients selleck inhibitor got samples from surgical resection, and others from biopsy. 194 patients received EGFR-TKIs as monotherapy (including 148 in gefitinib therapy and 57 in erlotinib

therapy), and had complete clinicopathologic documents. Treatment of Gefitinib (250 mg) or Erlotinib (150 mg) alone daily continued until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or patients’ refusal. All patients provided written informed consent and a separate consent for optional provision of tumor samples

for biomarker analysis. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethic Committee at Beijing Cancer Hospital. Study design The study was designed to explore potential value of EGFR phosphorylation in predicting clinical response to EGFR-TKIs treatment. Tumor specimens were obtained at initial diagnosis. Clinical data were sealed during laboratory analysis until all data were evaluated. Recorded variables included age, sex, smoking history, pathology, eastern cooperative oncology group (ECOG) performance status, stage at diagnosis, treatments, and toxicities. Efficacy evaluation included best response, objective response rate (ORR), disease Megestrol Acetate control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Assessments Tumor assessments were performed at baseline and every eight weeks until investigators documented disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Clinical responses to TKIs including complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and disease progression (PD) were evaluated according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) [32]. PFS was defined as time from beginning of TKIs treatment to PD or death, and OS was defined as time from beginning of TKIs to death. An independent radiologist (Dr. N.W.) assessed all films, who was blind to EGFR biomarker status.