ObjectiveTo evaluate the antitumor efficacy and adverse reaction of erlotinib for recurrence/progression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases after radiotherapy.Methods The clinical data of 37 NSCLC patients with previously irradiated and recurrent/progressive brain metastases was analyzed retrospectively.They were treated orally with erlotinib at 150 mg8226;d-1.The efficacy and adverse reaction were evaluated after 8 weeks’ treatment. Results Thirteen patients had EGFR gene exon 19/21 mutations and 24 patients with unknown EGFR mutational status.The overall disease control rate (DCR) for all patients with intracranial brain metastases was 56.7%, including 5 patients (13.5%) with partial response (PR) and 16 patients (43.3%) under stable disease (SD) condition.The PR and SD in the mutational group were 3 and 8 cases, those were 2 and 8 cases in the unspecified mutational group, respectively.As for systemic disease, DCR was 40.5% including PR in 3 patients (8.1%), SD in 12 ones (32.4%);The PR and SD in the mutational group were 2 and 7 cases, and which were 1 case and 5 cases in the unspecified mutational group, respectively.Erlotinib showed significantly more effective in the mutational group than that in the unspecified mutational group (P<0.05).The major adverse reactions were grade 1/2 fatigue 64.9%, skin rash and diarrhea with 43.2% and 21.6%, respectively.The incidence of rash was conspicuously higher in mutational group than that in the unspecified mutational group (P<0.05). Conclusion Erlotinib is effective and safe on treating NSCLC patients with previously irradiated, recurrent/progressive brain metastases, especially for those with EGFR mutations, which should be considered as a new therapeutic option.