Overview of docetaxel (Taxotere) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
In four initial phase II studies of docetaxel administered as a 1-hour intravenous infusion at a dose of 100 mg/m2 every 3 weeks in chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the overall response rate was 31% in 128 evaluable patients and the median survival was 9 months. Five subsequent phase II studies of 100 mg/m2 docetaxel in the first-line setting showed similar results, with response rates in the range of 25% to 63% and favorable survival. Lower doses also have been evaluated in two trials using docetaxel 60 and 75 mg/m2, with overall response rates of 25% and 19%, respectively. In the second-line setting, after failure of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, four studies of docetaxel 100 mg/m2 have achieved response rates of 16% to 22% and encouraging median durations of survival of 30 to 42 weeks. In both first-and second-line settings, the toxicity of docetaxel is tolerable. Docetaxel is clearly an active drug in both the first- and second-line treatment of NSCLC, and recently conducted phase III trials will further define the role of this agent in the standard treatment of NSCLC.
Fossella
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Department of Thoracic/Head & Neck Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D000077143:Docetaxel; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D043823:Taxoids
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D043823:Taxoids; D000077143:Docetaxel; D017239:Paclitaxel