laurielu
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Posts:9
I will have my last chemo treatment on 4/5/13. I will then be on maintenance of erbitux. I have stage 4 squamous nsclc. My question is what is the difference between what erbitux can do and what tarceva can do?
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Reply # - March 12, 2013, 10:13 PM
Reply To: Erbitux as maintenance
These two approaches haven't been directly compared. Weekly Erbitux (cetuximab) was included as a maintenance therapy after first line chemotherapy in combination with Erbitux in several trials, one of which (called FLEX) showed a very marginal improvement in survival. Tarceva (erlotinib) has been approved as a "switch" maintenance therapy after completion of first line chemotherapy, with a rather minimal survival benefit seen on the "SATURN" trial. You can learn more about these by using the search function on the site.
Overall, I would say that there is relatively modest interest or enthusiasm for maintenance Tarceva, and even less for maintenance Erbitux. This is really because the evidence of a benefit in giving these treatments as a maintenance therapy is relatively weak. I'm pretty dubious that maintenance Erbitux adds anything but side effects and expense, it isn't FDA approved in this setting, and I know no expert who favors it. While there is a little evidence supporting maintenance Tarceva, there isn't evidence that giving it as a maintenance therapy is better than giving it at the time of first progression after a break from therapy if patients want/need one.
Good luck.
-Dr. West
Reply # - March 13, 2013, 07:12 AM
Reply To: Erbitux as maintenance
Thank you very much for your reply.