Study to Assess Safety/Tolerability/Efficacy of Gefitinib Versus Docetaxel in Locally Advanced or Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Overview

This is a randomized, open- label, parallel group, phase IV, multicentre study. The total number of patients expected to be recruited is 40. These randomized patients will have a histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma histology of locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC. Patients will be recruited by investigational sites that have expertise in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The study will compare gefitinib monotherapy 250 mg/day orally with docetaxel 60 mg/m2 intravenously over 1 hour every 3 weeks with a primary endpoint of safety and tolerability. The target population will be patients who have received one prior platinum-based chemotherapy and are now considered suitable candidates for further chemotherapy with docetaxel. At study entry, patients will be randomized on a 1:1 basis stratified with respect to performance status (0-1 vs. 2). Patients may continue to receive treatment with either gefitinib or docetaxel until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or the occurrence of any of the other specific criteria. An independent committee will be appointed to perform a blinded review of all patient scans. Any assessments/visits after screening should be performed within a window of plus or minus 3 working days of the scheduled visit date. If selected screening evaluations are done within 7 days of Day 1, Cycle 1 of treatment, and are acceptable for study entry, they do not have to be repeated on Day 1 unless the investigator believes that they are likely to have significantly changed. Any patient who discontinues from study treatment without radiological evidence of disease progression (except for withdrawal of consent by patient) should continue to have objective tumor assessments every 6 weeks in order to collect information on progression of disease