After adjustment, afatinib showed lower risk of treatment failure compared with gefitinib (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.42–0.73, P < 0.001) and erlotinib (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.41–0.77, P < 0.001) in NSCLC patients with EGFR-activating mutations. Here, EGFR is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.