Docetaxel-Based Doublet Versus Pemetrexed-Based Doublet As Second-Line Therapy In Tki Treated Advanced Nsclc Patients With Egfr Mutations: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of docetaxel-based versus pemetrexed-based doublet as second-line therapy in TKI treated NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations. Sixty-nine patients without T790M mutation who failed EGFR TKI therapy received second-line chemotherapy. Thirty-eight patients treated with a docetaxel-based doublet and 31 patients were treated using pemetrexed-based doublet. Little difference of overall response rate could be found between the two arms (docetaxel-based doublet vs pemetrexed-based doublet: 15.79% vs 19.35%; P = 0.473). No complete responses were observed in both arms. Median progression free survival was 3.5 months in the docetaxel-based doublet group and 5.1 months in the pemetrexed-based group (P = 0.0029). There was no statistical difference of OS between the two groups (P = 0.1019). No significant differences were observed between the two arms in terms of hematological toxicity, with the exception of leucopenia which was more pronounced in the docetaxel-based doublet (P = 0.007). Our findings in this study indicated that the Pemetrexed-based doublet showed an improvement in PFS compared with docetaxel-based doublet in NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations who failed first-line EGFR TKI treatment.