title: Efficacy of gemcitabine--cisplatin treatment in stage IIIA ("bulky"N2), IIIB and IV non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of a gemcitabine and cisplatin combination for patients with stage IIIA"bulky"N2, IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with histological and/or cytological diagnosis of NSCLC were administered gemcitabine 1250 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, and cisplatin 70 mg/m2 on day 1, every 3 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and twenty patients with NSCLC, with median age of 53 years, and a WHO performance status of 0 (26%) or 1 (74%), were evaluated. The overall response rate was 40.0% with 37.5% partial response (PR) and 2.5% complete response (CR). Also, 38% of the patients had either minimal response (MR) or stable disease (SD). The median survival was 54.9 weeks. The time to progression was 28.1 weeks. There was no treatment-related death in this series. CTC grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 4.4% of the patients, while febrile neutropenia developed in 0,9% of the patients. CTC grade 4 thrombocytopenia occurred in 2.2%, and CTC grade 3/4 anemia developed in 3.3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support that gemcitabine and cisplatin administered as a 3-week cycle is an effective and safe regimen for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Korányi National Institute of TB and Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary. ostorosgyula@freemail.hu
authors.forename: Gyula
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ostoros
authors.forename: Klára
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szondy
authors.forename: Erzsébet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gergely-Farnos
authors.forename: Pál
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Magyar
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Strausz
authors.forename: Eniko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferenczi
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kovács
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
chemical_list: D003841:Deoxycytidine; D002945:Cisplatin; D000093542:Gemcitabine