Preliminary results of radiotherapy with or without weekly paclitaxel in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

PURPOSE: In this study our objective was to evaluate the therapeutic significance of concurrent paclitaxel and radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with stage III A/B NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive either radiotherapy alone (group 2) or concurrent weekly paclitaxel with radiotherapy (group 1) in GMMA. Radiotherapy was given as a split-course schedule with the total dose of 56 Gy. Paclitaxel, 60 mg/m(2), was administered only to group 1 on the first day of each radiotherapy week. To assess differences between values, P values were calculated with the chi(2) test. A Mann Whitney U-test was used to assess significant differences between the two values. Actuarial survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: There were 25 patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy and 26 who underwent radiotherapy only. Median follow-up was 14 months. The overall response rate was 92% and 70% for groups 1 and 2, respectively ( P= 0.003). Median survival was 15.2 months for group 1, and 12.0 months for group 2 ( P= 0.027). CONCLUSION: Based on this response and the toxicity profile, outpatient split-course radiotherapy and weekly paclitaxel seems to be feasible and safe.     

奈达铂联合多西他赛同步放化疗治疗老年局部晚期非小细胞肺癌临床疗效观察

目的评价奈达铂联合多西他赛同步放化疗治疗老年局部晚期非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)的近期临床疗效及毒副反应。方法 60例诊断明确的老年局部晚期NSCLC患者随机分为两组,均接受三维适形放疗,照射剂量60~66 Gy;并每周一次同步化疗,方案分别为奈达铂(NDP组)或顺铂(DDP组)联合多西他赛。奈达铂用量为20~25 mg/m2,顺铂为20~25 mg/m2;多西他赛为30 mg/m2;观察两组近期疗效及毒副反应。结果 NDP组和DDP组总有效率均为70.0%;两组中位生存时间分别为17.5个月和16.8个月;差异无统计学意义(P0.05);但NDP组骨髓抑制及胃肠道反应发生率明显低于DDP组(P0.05)。结论奈达铂联合多西他赛同步放化疗治疗老年局部晚期NSCLC有效率不低于顺铂双药方案,且胃肠道反应显著减低,患者耐受性好,更易让患者接受。     

NSCLC对小剂量紫杉醇同步放化疗的观察

目的观察小剂量紫杉醇配合同步放疗对局部晚期非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）的疗效和毒副反应。方法 88例Ⅲ期NSCLC患者随机分为两组：A组（小剂量紫杉醇配合同步放疗）45例,同步放化疗中放疗采用三维适形放疗技术,DT60～66Gy/30～33f/6～7w。化疗使用小剂量紫杉醇方案,紫杉醇45mg/m^2qw（放疗期间）;B组43例,放疗方式同A组,化疗使用EP方案,依托泊苷50mg/m^2d1-5,d29-33;顺铂50mg/m^2d1、8、29、36。治疗完成后评价疗效和不良反应。结果 A组总有效率（CR＋PR）75.6%;1、2、3年生存率分别为48.9%,31.1%,22.2%;中位生存时间18.8个月。B组总有效率76.7%;1、2、3年生存率分别为51.7%,30.2%,21%,中位生存时间19.2个月。两组间总有效率和生存率均无显著统计学差异（P〉0.05）。毒副反应主要是放射性肺炎、放射性食管炎和骨髓抑制,两组间有显著统计学差异（P〈0.05）。结论小剂量紫杉醇同步放化疗与EP方案同步放化疗疗效相当,并有降低毒副作用的优点,值得临床推广。     

A phase II study of weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line treatment of elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer. A Multicentre Italian Trial in Ovarian cancer (MITO-5) study

BACKGROUND: Carboplatin/paclitaxel every 3 weeks is the standard for patients with ovarian cancer, but elderly patients frequently receive modified schedules or single agent chemotherapy to avoid toxicity. A phase II study was conducted to describe tolerability of a weekly schedule of both drugs in elderly patients. METHODS: Patients aged>or=70 years with stage IC-IV ovarian cancer, performance status相似文献   

The addition of induction chemotherapy with etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin failed to improve therapeutic outcome of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer -- single institution retrospective analysis

Although chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a standard treatment for unresectable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the optimal sequencing remains to be determined. We retrospectively compared the treatment results of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent CRT (induction group, 32 patients) with those of concurrent CRT alone (concurrent group, 41 patients) in unresectable stage IIIA/IIIB NSCLC patients. In induction group, 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy (etoposide/ifosfamide/cisplatin: 24 patients, others: 8 patients) were followed by concurrent CRT (60 Gy/30 fractions, 6 mg/m2 of cisplatin daily), while the same concurrent CRT was administered in concurrent group. Clinicopathologic characteristics including age, weight loss, histologic types, and clinical stage did not show significant differences between two groups except for a higher proportion of patients with ECOG performance status 2 in concurrent group (3% vs. 27%, p=0.015). Overall toxicity was generally acceptable with 1 treatment-related death from tracheoesophageal fistula in induction group. The response rates after concurrent CRT were 41% for induction group and 54% for concurrent group, which showed no significant difference (p=0.560). With median follow-up of 13 (1-92) months, there was a trend toward an advantage for concurrent group in median progression-free survival (6 months vs 8.3 months, p=0.067) and overall survival (12 months vs. 14.5 months, p=0.059). In multivariate analysis, only more than 10% weight loss within 6 months was significantly associated with poor survival (p=0.001). In conclusion, the addition of induction chemotherapy to concurrent CRT did not show any advantage over concurrent CRT alone in locally advanced NSCLC.     

卡铂与足叶乙甙联合放射同步治疗局限期小细胞肺癌的临床疗效观察

目的　观察卡铂、足叶乙甙 (CE方案 )联合放射同步治疗局限期小细胞肺癌的临床疗效。方法　局限期小细胞肺癌患者 90例 ,采用信封抽签随机分组进入同步治疗组 (A组 )和序贯治疗组 (B组 )。两组患者均接受CE方案治疗 6个周期和放射治疗 (简称放疗 ) 6周 (剂量为 6 0Gy)。A组患者化学治疗 (化疗 )与放疗同时进行 ;B组先给予 4个周期化疗 ,再进行放疗 ,然后再化疗 2个周期。结果　A组患者中位生存时间 2 6个月 ,5年生存率 2 7% ;B组患者中位生存时间 19个月 ,5年生存率 16 % ,两组差异有显著性 ( χ2 =4 10 4 ,P <0 0 5 )。两组患者主要毒副反应为骨髓抑制 ,Ⅲ、Ⅳ度白细胞下降发生率A组为 93 3% ( 4 2 / 4 5 ) ,B组为 75 5 % ( 34/ 4 5 ) ,差异有显著性 ( χ2 =5 4 13,P <0 0 5 )。结论　CE方案联合放射同步治疗 ,能有效提高局限期小细胞肺癌患者的生存时间和生存率     

Cisplatin and gemcitabine induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy or surgery for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: We report a study of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy for stage IIIA/IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS: Patients received two cycles of induction chemotherapy with cisplatin 100 mg/m(2) on day 1 and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. If the disease was resectable [corrected] surgery was followed with two further cycles. If unresectable, patients received cisplatin 100 mg/m(2) day 1, 29 with 5-fluorouracil 1000 mg/m(2) per 24 h continuous infusion for 96 h on days 2-5 and days 30-33 of the radiotherapy administration. Radiation therapy consisted of 63 Gy, 35 fractions, 7 weeks. RESULTS: Of 48 patients, 40% had a partial response to induction chemotherapy. Four of eleven patients with stage IIIA tumours had resectable disease. The remaining seven patients plus 37 with stage IIIB disease had chemoradiotherapy. Response at the completion of all therapy was 62% (IIIA 73%, IIIB 59%). For all patients the median survival was 15.3 months: 1 year and 3 years, 58% and 25%, respectively. Those with IIIB disease responding to induction chemotherapy had significantly superior survival to those that did not respond (37 months vs 11 months; P = 0.005). This remained significant from a landmark at 8 weeks after the start of treatment (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: These results are equivalent to other studies using induction chemotherapy prior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Response to induction chemotherapy may have major prognostic significance.     

Combined modality treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer

Among all nonmetastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, the best survival rates are observed in patients who undergo surgery. Nevertheless, 5-year survival rates vary between 20% and 60% depending on the stage of the disease. Several combined modality treatments have been investigated to improve outcome in localized NSCLC. These include local treatment, systemic before local treatment, concomitant systemic and local treatments, and systemic after local treatment. Preoperative irradiation was shown to be of no benefit on local recurrence rates or overall survival. Even doses of radiation >/=40 grays (Gy) were associated with lower survival rates. Postoperative irradiation did not influence survival in stage III disease and seemed to be deleterious in stages I and II disease. Modern radiotherapy techniques might be of interest in this setting but have been insufficiently tested. The early phase III studies of preoperative chemotherapy versus primary surgery in stage III NSCLC showed a tremendous difference in favor of chemotherapy. A larger study did not confirm these results but suggested that preoperative chemotherapy might have a greater effect in stages I and II of the disease. In locally advanced disease, chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy was shown to increase survival when compared with radiotherapy alone. Studies comparing concurrent chemoradiation with radiotherapy only were in favor of the concomitant schedule, which improved local control. Promising results have been reported with chemoradiation followed by surgery in stage IIIa and even stage IIIb disease. Randomized studies of postoperative chemotherapy demonstrated a 5% improvement in 5-year survival over adjuvant-free treatment. Postoperative chemoradiation showed no advantage over postoperative radiotherapy. Several trials that are ongoing or whose accrual was recently completed should further define the role of perioperative chemotherapy in resectable NSCLC and of trimodality treatments in advanced disease. Targeted agents are being developed in the postoperative setting. New schedules of chemoradiation with higher therapeutic indexes are also being investigated in nonresectable stage III NSCLC.     

Carboplatin and paclitaxel as first‐line treatment of unresectable or metastatic esophageal or gastric cancer

Survival in patients with metastatic esophageal and gastric cancer is dismal. No standard treatment has been established. Carboplatin/paclitaxel is active in both advanced gastric and esophageal cancer. Here we retrospectively present our single center experience. Between 1998 and 2013, a total of 134 patients with metastatic esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma treated with carboplatin/paclitaxel (carboplatin predominantly area under the curve 5 and paclitaxel predominantly 175 mg/m²) every 3 weeks as first‐line therapy were identified. Baseline characteristics, response to therapy, toxicities, and survival in this patient population were evaluated. Overall survival was defined as date from diagnosis to death or last follow up, and progression‐free survival was defined at time from cycle 1 to, progression or last follow up. Kaplan–Meier curves were fit to estimate overall and progression‐free survival. Of the 134 patients evaluated, the median age at diagnosis was 65 years. Disease control rate was 62.6% (complete response: 11%, partial response: 28%, stable disease: 33%). Median overall survival from date of initial diagnosis was 15.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06–1.5). Median progression‐free survival from date of initiation of carboplatin and paclitaxel was 5.3 months (95% CI 0.34–0.5). Grade III or greater toxicity occurred in 26.1% of patients. The most common grade III toxicities were neutropenia and neuropathy, present in 14.2% and 3.7% of the total study population, respectively. In patients with metastatic or unresectable esophageal or gastric cancer, the combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel is well tolerated with comparable overall survival and progression‐free survival to existing regimens in this population.     

Sequential cycles of high-dose chemotherapy with dose escalation of carboplatin with or without paclitaxel supported by G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells: a phase I/II study in advanced ovarian cancer

To assess high-dose carboplatin chemotherapy with or without paclitaxel with filgrastim mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) support in a phase I/II study, a total of 21 patients with mostly chemonaive disease received four cycles of high-dose chemotherapy. Cycle 1 (cyclophosphamide, 6 g/m2) was followed by two cycles of carboplatin (1600 mg/m2 or 1800 mg/m2). Cycle 4 consisted of carboplatin (1600 mg/m2), etoposide (1600 mg/m2), and melphalan (140 mg/m2). Further chemotherapy intensification was achieved by adding paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) to all cycles with a fixed carboplatin dose (1600 mg/m2). Ototoxicity was dose-limiting for escalation of sequential cycles of carboplatin. Grade 2 and grade 3 ototoxicity, hearing loss not requiring a hearing aid, or hearing loss correctable with a hearing aid, was observed with carboplatin at 1800 mg/m2. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of sequential carboplatin, therefore, was identified in this study as 1600 mg/m2. After cycles 1, 2, 3 and 4 the median duration of leukopenia (<1.0x10(9)/l) was 7, 4, 4 and 6 days. Severe grade 3 and 4 infections were seen in only 7% of cycles. Of the 21 patients evaluable for disease response, 57% had complete remissions and 43% experienced partial remissions resulting in an overall response rate of 100%. The median progression-free survival is 25 (15-36) months, the median overall survival 36.5 (15-38) months. Most patients were suboptimally debulked or had bulky residual disease at the start of chemotherapy. Sequential high-dose chemotherapy to a maximum dose of 1600 mg/m2 carboplatin is effective and feasible. A randomized, prospective trial comparing sequential high-dose chemotherapy with optimal standard chemotherapy is now warranted.     

Selective dose escalation of chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced esophageal cancer

SUMMARY. This phase II study assessed the use of concurrent continuous infusion of 5‐fluorouracil and weekly carboplatin plus paclitaxel with selective radiation dose escalation for patients with localized esophageal cancer. Patients with esophageal carcinoma were staged by thoracic and abdominal computed tomography, endoscopic ultrasound, and positron emission tomography scans. Patients received a continuous infusion of 5‐fluorouracil 225 mg/m² on days 1 to 38 and intravenous paclitaxel 45 mg/m² and carboplatin AUC 2 on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and 36. Radiotherapy was delivered in 1.8‐Gy fractions, 5 d/wk for 5.5 weeks. Six to 8 weeks after initial therapy, patients without metastatic progression but with a positive biopsy, or less than partial response received a 9‐Gy boost with the same concurrent chemotherapy. Twenty‐four patients were enrolled: 18 patients were enrolled initially; 6 additional patients were enrolled following a protocol amendment designed to reduce the esophagitis by adding the radioprotectant amifostine. Median follow‐up was 30 months. Twenty (83%) patients had adenocarcinomas of the lower esophagus/gastroesophageal junction. Seventeen patients (81%) attained at least a partial response. Six patients received boost treatment. At 4 years, overall survival was 28%, cause‐specific survival was 38%, locoregional control was 61%, and distant metastasis‐free survival was 52%. Radiation delays ranged from 0 to 62 days (median, 8 d), primarily owing to esophagitis. In total, 28% of patients developed esophageal strictures requiring dilatations. There were no differences in esophageal strictures, local control, or survival with the addition of amifostine.     

A multicenter phase II study of the efficacy and safety of docetaxel plus cisplatin in Asian chemonaïve patients with metastatic or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of docetaxel-cisplatin in patients with metastatic or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Chemotherapy-na?ve patients with histologically confirmed TNM stage III or IV NSCLC were recruited from 12 Asian trial centers. Patients received docetaxel (75 mg/m2) and cisplatin (75 mg/m2) every 3 weeks for 6 cycles. RESULTS: 130 of 146 patients were evaluable for efficacy (60% stage IV). Three complete and 58 partial responses were observed (overall response rate: 46.9%; 95% CI: 38.3-55.5%). Median time to progression was 6.9 months and median survival was 14.0 months; 1-year survival was 59.5%. Grade 3/4 neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia occurred in 69.2%, 6.2% and 18.5% of patients, respectively. Grade 3/4 vomiting was observed in 13.7% and grade 3/4 neurosensory effects were observed in 2.7% of patients. There was one case of treatment-related death due to sepsis. CONCLUSION: Docetaxel-cisplatin is an effective and well-tolerated treatment in Asian patients with NSCLC.     

Weekly paclitaxel for advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients not suitable for platinum-based therapy

Platinum-based combinations are efficacious in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but their toxicity makes them unsuitable for elderly and for patients with co-morbidities. We assessed the efficacy and toxicity of low-dose of paclitaxel in patients who were elderly or who had contraindications against cisplatin therapy. Seventy-one patients (median age 68; range 42-82 years) with unresectable NSCLC were treated with weekly paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) infusion (1 h) for several cycles without intervening rest periods. Thirty-seven patients had PS 1 and 34 had PS 2 status. A total of 614 courses were administered (median 9, range 2-20). There were no episodes of grade 4 toxicities and only 1 patient had grade 3 thrombopenia. Grade 3 anemia or neutropenia were not observed and severe non-hematological toxicity was uncommon: grade 1-2 fatigue in 52%; grade 1-2 motor neuropathy in 42% and grade 3 in 5.5%; grade 1-2 sensory neuropathy in 46.3% of patients. Twenty-seven of the 67 evaluable patients (40.3%) had an objective response, whereas 26 patients (38.8%) had stable disease. The median overall survival for the entire group was 8.4 months (95% CI = 5.6 to 11.2) and the 1-year and 2-year survival was 37.4% and 12.1%, respectively. The median time-to-progression was 5.4 months (95% CI = 3.3 to 7.4). Our data show that low-dose weekly paclitaxel is active and well tolerated in this group of patients with NSCLC and poor prognosis and, as such, is useful for patients in whom platinum-based combinations are not suitable.     

Multiple cycles of PBPC-supported high-dose carboplatin and paclitaxel following mobilization with epirubicin and cisplatin are feasible but ineffective in treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

We verified the feasibility of a multi-cycle peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC)-supported high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) regimen in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The HDC regimen consisted of a single course of high-dose epirubicin given in combination with cisplatin plus filgrastim, followed by three courses of high doses of carboplatin and paclitaxel with PBPC reinfusion and filgrastim. Of the 16 enrolled patients, 13 provided an adequate number of PBPCs by a single leukapheresis, while in the three needed two procedures, with a median number of CD34+, CD34+/CD33- and CD34+/CD38- cells collected per patient was 13.5 x 10(6), 10.9 x 10(6) and 0.9 x 10(6)/kg, respectively. No toxic death occurred, and the collected PBPCs supported a rapid hematopoietic reconstitution after HDC; however, seven patients early interrupted the treatment early due to early progressive disease (n=4) or prolonged grade 3 peripheral neurotoxicity (n=3). Despite an overall response rate of 42%, the median survival for stage IV patients has been 5 months (range: 1-25+). Of two patients with stage IIIB NSCLC, one is continuously disease-free at 71+ months, while of 14 with stage IV disease, one is currently alive with disease at 25+ months. In conclusion, the combination of high-dose epirubicin with cisplatin plus filgrastim is an effective regimen in releasing large amounts of PBPCs, which can then be safely employed to support multiple courses of HDC. Multiple cycles of PBPC-supported high-dose carboplatin and paclitaxel are ineffective in treating patients with advanced NSCLC.     

适形放疗联合化疗治疗非小细胞肺癌的疗效观察

目的观察适形放疗联合化疗同步与序贯治疗中晚期非小细胞肺癌的临床疗效。方法选择不能手术的中晚期非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）患者100例,随机分成同步组和序贯组各50例。适形放疗采用三维适形放疗（3D—CRT）和调强放疗（IM—RT）方法,化疗方案为盖诺＋顺铂（NP方案）。结果治疗总有效率比较（CR＋PR）：同步组78％,序贯组46％,两组比较差异有显著性（P〈0．05）;生存率（Kaplan—Meier法）比较：同步组1年生存率为71．2％,序贯组为50．3％,两组比较差异有显著性（P〈0.05）;两组病人均能耐受治疗中的不良反应。结论同步组的近期疗效明显优于序贯组,能提高患者的一年生存率。该方法是治疗中晚期非小细胞肺癌较好的方案。     

Small-cell anaplastic bronchopulmonary cancers. Prognostic and therapeutic review apropos 49 cases

This retrospective study of 49 patients with small-cell broncho-pulmonary carcinoma showed the principal prognostic factor to be the response to chemotherapy: an initial treatment association of cyclophosphamide (800 mg/m2), adriamycin (60 mg/m2), methotrexate (40 mg/m2) and CCNU (60 mg/m2) every four weeks was used in 40 patients, out of 46 patients who underwent chemotherapy. All cases were followed up for a minimum of 6 months except 2 who were lost to follow-up; there are 9 survivors, all of whom initially had an apparent complete remission: the extension of the disease seemed to be of less prognostic significance than the response to treatment. The response rate to this protocol was 84 p. cent with 52 p. cent apparent complete remissions. The mean global survival rate was 9 months (mean survival rate of treated patients: 11.46 months). Some patients with disseminated carcinoma initially had very prolonged survival. The association of a final session of thoracic radiotherapy seemed to be useful (the 4 patients who underwent radiotherapy after 8 to 12 sessions of chemotherapy are still alive after an average of 18 months follow-up with no signs of recurrence).     

Phase II study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine in resectable non-small cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the efficacy of a non-platinum-containing doublet chemotherapy of gemcitabine and vinorelbine as induction therapy prior to surgical resection in patients with stage IB-IIIA and selected stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The primary clinical end point was radiographic disease response rate, and the secondary end points were pathologic response rate, treatment-related toxicity, surgical resectability and outcome, and overall and disease-free survival. METHODS: Patients underwent staging with CT of the chest and upper-abdomen, whole-body F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, bronchoscopy, and mediastinoscopy. The patients had to have medically and surgically resectable disease. Chemotherapy consisted of gemcitabine, 1,000 mg/m(2), and vinorelbine, 25 mg/m(2), administered on days 1, 8, 22, and 29. Imaging studies were repeated between days 43 and 50. Disease response was assessed by response evaluation criteria in solid tumors, and patients with resectable disease were offered surgery between days 50 and 70. Patients were followed up every 3 months for 2 years with chest CT. RESULTS: Between January 2000 and March 2004, 27 patients with stage IB NSCLC, 15 patients with stage II NSCLC, and 20 patients with stage III NSCLC were entered. After induction chemotherapy 34% (95% confidence interval [CI], 23 to 48%) had an objective radiographic response, 2% had a complete pathologic response, 90% underwent thoracotomy, and 77% underwent a complete resection. There were four deaths in the 6-week period following surgery, and there were no deaths related to chemotherapy. There were no unexpected morbidities from surgery or chemotherapy. The 1-year and 2-year overall survival rates were 80% (95% CI, 68 to 88%) and 65% (95% CI, 50 to 76%), and the median overall survival was 38.2 months. CONCLUSIONS: Induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine results in 1-year and 2-year survival rates and a median survival time comparable to those obtained with platinum-containing doublets. However, it appears to be less efficacious in terms of radiographic and pathologic response rates compared with platinum-containing chemotherapy doublets.     

Phase I/II trial of multicycle high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell support for treatment of advanced ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is chemosensitive, but most patients with advanced disease die from tumor progression. As 25% of the patients can be cured by chemotherapy, it is reasonable to evaluate high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT). Forty-eight patients with untreated ovarian cancer were entered in a multicenter phase I/II trial of multicycle HDCT. Median age was 46 (19-59 years); International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics-stage was III in 79% and IV in 21%; 31% had residual disease >1 cm after surgery. Two courses of induction/mobilization therapy with cyclophosphamide (250 mg/m2) and paclitaxel (250 mg/m2) were used to collect peripheral blood stem cells. HDCT consisted of two courses of carboplatin (area under curve (AUC) 18-22) and paclitaxel followed by one course of carboplatin and melphalan (140 mg/m2) with or without etoposide (1600 mg/m2). Main toxicity was gastrointestinal. Limiting carboplatin to AUC 20 and eliminating etoposide resulted in manageable toxicity (69% without grade 3/4 toxicity). One patient died from treatment-related pneumonitis. At 8 years median follow-up, median progression-free-survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) is 13.3 and 37.0 months. Five-years PFS and OS is 18 and 33%. Multicycle HDCT is feasible in a multicenter setting. A European phase III trial based on this regimen is evaluating the efficacy of HDCT.     

Combination chemotherapy with carboplatin and docetaxel for elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

The efficacy and toxicity of treatment with carboplatin (AUC= 5)+ docetaxel (70mg/m2) were analyzed retrospectively in 27 elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) aged 70 years or more. The median age of the patients was 74 years (range, 70-83 years). The performance status (ECOG), clinical stage, and tumor histology in the patients were as follows: PS: PS 0, 12 patients; PS 1, 11 patients; PS 2, 4 patients; disease stage: stage IIIA, 5 patients; stage IIIB, 11 patients; stage IV, 11 patients; tumor histology: adenocarcinoma, 18 patients; squamous cell carcinoma, 9 patients. The median number of treatment cycles administered was 4. The median survival time was 11.1 months and the 1-year survival rate was 40.7%. The response rate was 33.3%. The major toxicities were leukopenia and neutropenia; grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 22 patients (81.5%). Nonhematologic toxicities were generally mild, including grade 3 anorexia in 13 patients (48.1%) and grade 3 febrile neutropenia in 9 patients (33.3%). No treatment-related deaths were observed. Thus, it was concluded that the combination of carboplatin + docetaxel is a feasible, well-tolerated, and effective regimen for fit elderly patients with NSCLC. Prospective studies comparing carboplatin + docetaxel with third-generation single-agent chemotherapy or non-platinum-based combination chemotherapy are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of this drug combination.     

The efficacy of carboplatin plus nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel after cisplatin plus pemetrexed in non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer patients

BackgroundCarboplatin plus nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX) is one of the available first-line treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, the efficacy of carboplatin plus nab-PTX as second-line, remains unknown. We examined the efficacy of carboplatin plus nab-PTX after cisplatin plus pemetrexed in non-squamous NSCLC patients.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed advanced non-squamous NSCLC patients who received carboplatin plus nab-PTX as a second-line chemotherapy regimen after cisplatin plus pemetrexed in our hospital between March 2013 and December 2017. We assessed clinical characteristics, efficacy, and toxicities.ResultsForty-four patients were recruited. The overall response rate (ORR) was 29% and the disease control rate (DCR), 69%. The median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 3.7 months (95% CI: 2.4–5.5 months) and the median overall survival, 16.6 months (95% CI:8.8–19.5 months). We assessed the ORR and mPFS using the best overall response in the prior regimen. The ORR and mPFS were better in the PD group (ORR; 44% and mPFS: 5.6 months).ConclusionsCarboplatin plus nab-PTX after cisplatin plus pemetrexed in non-squamous NSCLC patients is a treatment option. There were several cases where cisplatin plus pemetrexed was not effective, but Carboplatin plus nab-PTX was.