Gemcitabine plus carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine combined with carboplatin for a chemotherapy regimen for patients with metastatic, recurrent, or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 46 chemotherapy-naïve patients with histologically confirmed stage IIIB or IV NSCLC were treated with 1250 mg/m(2) of gemcitabine on d 1 and 8, with carboplatin of AUC 6 additionally applied on d 1. This treatment was repeated every 3 wk. In all, a total of 215 chemotherapy courses were administered. The median age of the patients was 46, ranging from 33 to 83. Ten patients (22%) had an ECOG performance status of 2. Responses were observed objectively in 20 patients (43.5%) and maintained for a median of 7.4 mo. The median duration of progression-free and overall survivals were 5.0 and 12.3 mo, respectively. Neutropenia was frequently encountered, and gastrointestinal side effects, such as anorexia and nausea, were mostly predictable but manageable. One patient died of septic shock due to a complication with pneumonia while simultaneously trying to recover from myelosuppression. A subgroup consisting of patients aged 65 yr or older and/or PS 2 showed a outcome similar with the entire group of all patients involved in the study: response rate (43.5%), median PFS (4.6 months), median OS (12.3 months), and similar toxicity rate. After analyzing all the results, it was evident that a treatment of gemcitabine combined with carboplatin is an active and safe regimen for first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC. The results of the elderly and/or PS 2 patients were similar to those of the entire group of patients.
Park
Se Hoon
SH
Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon Medical School, Gil Medical Center, Incheon 405-760, South Korea.
Jeong
Seong Hwan
SH
Kyung
Sun Young
SY
Lim
Young-Hee
YH
An
Chang Hyeok
CH
Lee
Sang Pyo
SP
Park
Jeong Woong
JW
Bang
Soo Mee
SM
Cho
Eun Kyung
EK
Shin
Dong Bok
DB
Lee
Jae Hoon
JH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000188:drug therapy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D003841:Deoxycytidine; D016190:Carboplatin; D000093542:Gemcitabine