Chemotherapy of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a randomized trial of three cis-platin-based chemotherapy regimens

One hundred fifty-two patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer were randomized to receive treatment with one of three cis-platin-containing chemotherapy regimens: vindesine/cis-platin, etoposide/cis-platin, or vindesine/etoposide/cis-platin. Following an 8-week induction course of treatment, patients were evaluated for response; responders continued to receive monthly chemotherapy. All patients were followed until death. Response rates for the three regimens were 10%, 6%, and 24%, respectively; the cis-platin/vindesine/etoposide regimen produced more responses than did either cis-platin/etoposide or cis-platin/vindesine (p less than 0.05). However, median survival was not improved with the three-drug regimen, and myelosuppression produced by this regimen was worse. The 20-week median survival for the entire group suggests that these treatments had no impact on survival. None of these regimens can be recommended for routine treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. The addition of vindesine did not make a significant impact in response rate or overall survival in this study.