A Review of the Impact of Lapatinib on Health-Related Quality of Life in the Management of Advanced Solid Tumors

Abstract

Lapatinib is an oral dual inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (HER1/ErbB1/EGFR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/ErbB2) which was approved for use in patients with metastatic breast cancer in 2007. In this review, we discuss the quality of life (QOL) results for patients on clinical trials of lapatinib. Six clinical trials, including 4 phase III and 2 phase II trials, were identified for which QOL outcomes have been reported. The trials generally showed stability of QOL during lapatinib therapy with no trial showing a detrimental effect of lapatinib on QOL. With these results, a discussion of the role of QOL assessments in patients with breast cancer is presented.