title: Vindesine and cisplatin combination chemotherapy compared with vindesine as a single agent in the management of non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized study.
abstract: One hundred and five patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer were included in a randomized trial comparing the activity of vindesine as a single agent with the combination of vindesine and cisplatin. All patients were previously untreated and the majority (70%) had squamous carcinoma. The overall partial response rates in 88 evaluable patients were 7% for vindesine alone and 33% for the combined regime. There were no complete responders in either arm. The median survival of patients treated with vindesine and cisplatin was 11 months, compared with 4 months in those treated with vindesine alone (P = 0.008). Patients showing a partial or complete response to vindesine and cisplatin survived a median duration of 13 months, compared with 7 months for non-responders (P = 0.03). This survival benefit associated with the combination was particularly apparent for patients with ECOG performance status 0 or 1 (median survival greater than 18 months and 13 months respectively), locoregional disease (median survival 14 months) and squamous cell histology (median survival 13 months). Myelo-suppression was greater with the combination but was not a major treatment problem. Neurotoxicity, which was frequently dose-limiting, was of similar severity in both treatment groups. The results indicate that the combination of vindesine and cisplatin is superior to vindesine alone for remission induction in non-small cell lung cancer and confers a significant survival advantage compared with vindesine alone in patients with favourable prognostic factors.
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011897:Random Allocation; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014751:Vindesine
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014747:Vinblastine; D002945:Cisplatin; D014751:Vindesine