Purpose: This study investigated the clinical outcomes and safety of apatinib mesylate in the treatment of advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients who progressed after standard therapy, and analyzed the kinase insert domain receptor  (KDR ) gene polymorphism.
Methods: A total of 135 patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC who received apatinib mesylate were included. Objective response rates were evaluated. Subsequently, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed and safety data were recorded. Additionally, peripheral blood and biopsy cancer tissue specimens were collected from the patients with NSCLC for the genotyping of the genetic polymorphism and mRNA expression of the KDR  gene, respectively. Analysis on the association between genotypes and prognosis was conducted.
Results: The objective response rate of the 135 patients with NSCLC was 18.52%, disease control rate was 65.19%, median PFS was 3.95 months, and median OS was 10.05 months. Regarding the KDR  gene polymorphism analysis, the distribution of the 4397T>C polymorphism genotypes was in accordance with the Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (P =0.868). Moreover, the prognosis analysis indicated that the median PFS of patients with the CC/TC and TT genotypes was 2.80 and 4.80 months, respectively (P =0.002). Furthermore, the median OS of patients with the two genotypes was 9.10 and 10.56 months, respectively (P =0.041). The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the TC/CC genotypes were an independent factor for PFS (odds ratio: 1.72, P =0.009). There was no correlation between the polymorphism and adverse reactions. Additionally, the mRNA expression analysis suggested that the mRNA levels of KDR  in cancer tissues were significantly different between the TT and TC/CC genotypes (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The clinical outcomes of treatment with apatinib mesylate for advanced non-squamous NSCLC in patients who progressed after standard therapy may be influenced by the KDR  4397T>C polymorphism through mediation of the mRNA expression of KDR .
Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, apatinib mesylate, kinase insert domain receptor , polymorphism, clinical outcomes, safety