Introduction: Lung cancer still represents the leading cause of death for cancer. About the 70% of diagnosis are in advanced-stage. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents the 85% of all diagnosed lung cancers and non-squamous histology represents the 40% of all NSCLC. First-line therapies increase survival, control symptoms and improve quality of life, compared with best supportive care. It is crucial to choose a treatment with a low impact on patient's life considering the related toxicities.
Areas covered: Adverse events (AEs) of first-line therapies for non-squamous NSCLC are here reviewed and discussed, from evidences in clinical trials conducting to drugs approval.
Expert opinion: For advanced disease, palliation and preserving patients QoL are still the primary goal of treatment. Therefore, differing toxicity profiles are often a deciding factor in first-line and also maintenance setting for non-squamous NSCLC. Special attention is necessary to renal function and drugs' nephrotoxicity. Moreover, it is to consider the specific AEs of drugs classes: hypertension, bleeding, and proteinuria, for anti-VEGF therapy; skin toxicity, diarrhea, interstitial lung disease for TKIs; vision disorders, and hepatotoxicity for ALK-inhibitor. It is important to select patients for a treatment on the basis of their comorbidities and the presence of risk factors.
Keywords: Afatinib; bevacizumab; crizotinib; erlotinib; first-line therapy; gefitinib; maintenance therapy; non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer; pemetrexed.