Randomized, Double-Blind Trial of Erlotinib/Pazopanib or Erlotinib/Placebo in Patients With Previously Treated Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Erlotinib is the current treatment standard for second- or third-line therapy of advanced NSCLC. Since angiogenesis inhibitors have also shown activity in NSCLC, the simultaneous inhibition of the EGFR and VEGF pathway may improve the efficacy of therapy. In a recently reported Phase III trial (Hainsworth et al. 2008), the combination of bevacizumab and erlotinib improved the Progression- Free-Survival (PFS) vs. erlotinib alone when given as second-line therapy in NSCLC (3.4 months vs. 1.7 months, respectively; HR 0.63). Pazopanib also inhibits the angiogenesis pathway, and may have advantages over bevacizumab including: (1) inhibition of other potentially important targets, including PDGFR; and (2) more convenient oral administration.