Maintenance therapy with erlotinib for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer given immediately after initial chemotherapy is well-tolerated and significantly prolongs progression-free survival, according to research published online May 20 in The Lancet Oncology.

Federico Cappuzzo, M.D., of the Ospedale Civile di Livorno, Italy, and colleagues studied 884 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had completed initial chemotherapy and did not have progressive disease during that time. The patients were randomized to either erlotinib maintenance chemotherapy or placebo until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or death.