title: Use of high-dose etoposide/ifosfamide/carboplatin/epirubicin and peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation in limited-disease small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Conventional-dose chemotherapy for limited-disease small cell lung cancer has resulted in high response rates, but rarely in a cure. In an ongoing phase I-II trial, limited-disease small cell lung cancer patients received high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) transplantation as part of an early intensification strategy after two cycles of induction chemotherapy. Eligible patients (n = 18) were initially treated with two cycles of etoposide (500 mg/m2), ifosfamide (4 g/m2), cisplatin (50 mg/m2), epirubicin (50 mg/m2) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor to combine an effective, standard-dose chemotherapy regimen with simultaneous mobilization of PBPCs. Patients who were in partial remission or complete remission after two cycles of induction chemotherapy received high-dose intensification chemotherapy with cumulative doses of 1,500 mg/m2 etoposide, 12 g/m2 ifosfamide, 750 mg/m2 carboplatin, and 150 mg/m2 epirubicin, followed by autologous PBPC transplantation and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. The duration of the complete chemotherapy program was 9 weeks. All patients received chest irradiation posttransplantation (50 Gy), and those in complete remission received additional prophylactic cranial irradiation (30 Gy). To date, 13 patients with a median age of 49 years (age range, 34 to 62 years) have been treated within this combined-modality treatment protocol. At a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 3 to 45 months) after transplantation, 11 patients were alive and nine were still in complete remission. Nonhematologic toxicity was acceptable; World Health Organization grades 2 to 4 oral mucositis was the most frequently observed (85%) adverse event. No toxic deaths were observed, and hematopoietic reconstitution occurred rapidly after PBPC transplantation; platelet transfusion independence (> 20,000 microL) and neutrophil counts greater than 500 microL were observed at study day 12+. The median survival time was not yet reached. These preliminary data demonstrate that early, high-dose chemotherapy and PBPC transplantation followed by local radiotherapy is safe and may lead to prolonged disease-free survival in some patients. Prospective, randomized studies in a larger series of patients will be required to provide definitive proof of the role of early high-dose chemotherapy in the management of limited-disease small cell lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology/Oncology and Radiation Oncology, Albert-Ludwigs University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brugger
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frommhold
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pressler
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mertelsmann
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kanz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007069:Ifosfamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D015251:Epirubicin; D005047:Etoposide; D016190:Carboplatin; D002945:Cisplatin; D007069:Ifosfamide