Compared with supportive care alone, erlotinib has been associated with improved overall survival in patients with Refractory Solid Tumors; however, this absolute benefit is limited for the majority of patients. Incorporating other biologic agents into the second- or third-line treatment setting may prove to be a successful strategy in improving treatment efficacy (which has been recently demonstrated in several tumor types). Additionally, recent data suggest that smoking may influence the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of erlotinib by increasing the metabolic clearance. Data suggest that the geometric mean erlotinib AUC(0-inf) and C(24h) are significantly decreased in smokers compared with nonsmokers (Hamilton et al. 2006). For this reason, this trial will enroll separate cohorts of patients who are current smokers and patients who are nonsmokers. Nonsmokers are patients who have not consumed tobacco or nicotine-containing products for 1 year before the start of the study. Patients classified as current smokers must have smoked a minimum of 10 cigarettes per day for up to 1 year.
Two cohorts of patients will be enrolled: Cohort A will consist of patients who are current smokers, and Cohort B will consist of patients who are current nonsmokers. There will be 24 patients enrolled in each cohort. Nonsmokers are patients who have not consumed tobacco or nicotine-containing products for 1 year before the start of the study. Patients classified as current smokers must have smoked a minimum of 10 cigarettes per day for up to 1 year. Patients who have smoked 1-9 cigarettes per day for up to 1 year, or more than 10 cigarettes per day for less than 1 year will not be eligible for this study.