RIDGEWOOD, N.J., April 30 — The addition of  (Erbitux) to standard chemotherapy for non-small-cell lung cancer prolonged survival and can now be regarded as a first-line treatment option, researchers said.

Among 1,125 chemotherapy-naive adult patients, those receiving chemotherapy plus cetuximab survived for a median of 11 months, compared with a median of 10 months for those receiving chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio for death 0.871; CI 0.762 to 0.996, P=0.044), Robert Pirker, M.D., of the Medical University of Vienna, and colleagues reported in the May 2 issue of The Lancet.