To investigate the difference of clinical efficacies of Afatinib and cisplatin combined with pemetrexed respectively in the treatment of the patients with advanced EFGR mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) so as to determine the clinical efficacy of Afatinib.

A total of 107 patients with advanced EFGR mutant NSCLC treated in our hospital from March 2016 to September 2017 were selected for this study. Fifty-one patients treated with cisplatin+ pemetrexed were taken as the control group, while fifty-six patients treated with Afatinib+ pemetrexed were taken as the experimental group. The clinical efficacies, the progression-free survival time (PFST), and the overall survival (OS) were observed for all the patients.

The proportions of ORR and DCR in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (53.57% vs. 31.37% and 85.71% vs. 66.67%, respectively, P<0.05). The PFST and OS were significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (7.2 months vs. 6.0 months and 11.75 months vs. 9.5 months, respectively, P<0.05). After treatment, the neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1) of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group [(11.79±8.51) ng/ml vs. (15.26±8.22) ng/ml, (14.54±8.77) ng/ml vs. (18.37±9.35) ng/ml, and (3.45±2.68) ng/ml vs. (5.41±3.54) ng/ml, respectively, P<0.05]. The incidences of nausea and vomiting, renal impairment and hair loss in the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group (12.50% vs. 33.33%, 5.36% vs. 27.45%, and 16.07% vs. 35.29%, respectively, P<0.05). The incidence of rash/acne in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (25.00% vs. 7.84%, P<0.05). After treatment, the physical, psychological, social and overall sensory scores were higher in the experimental group than the control group [(77.41±5.25) scores vs. (72.12±5.08) scores, (74.37±5.40) scores vs. (67.52±5.32) scores, (79.25±5.98) scores vs. (74.32±5.71) scores, and (71.21±5.45) scores vs. (66.61±5.20) scores, respectively, P<0.05].

Afatinib combined with pemetrexed is more effective in the first-line treatment of advanced EGFR mutant NSCLC patients, significantly improves the PFST, the OS and the quality of life of the patients, and has a higher safety, which is worthy of clinical promotion and application.