title: Prognosis of small-cell lung cancer since the introduction of amrubicin.
abstract: Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of amrubicin (AMR) in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). This study aimed to assess the change in the prognosis of SCLC before and after the commercial availability of AMR. We retrospectively analyzed data from 243 patients with newly diagnosed SCLC. Patients diagnosed before the start of the sale of AMR (January 1997-May 2002) constituted Group A, and patients diagnosed after its introduction (December 2002-December 2006), constituted Group B. The overall survival and demographic factors of the 2 groups were compared. Similar comparisons were also performed on subsets. Median survival time (MST) was 313 days for Group A and 388 days for Group B (P=0.031). Group B with limited disease (LD) demonstrated a significantly longer median survival time (321 vs. 506 days; P=0.022) than Group A, whereas no significant difference was noted between the groups of patients with extensive disease (ED) (296 vs. 280 days; P=0.895). In the subset of refractory relapse of LD, the MST was clearly longer in Group B than in Group A (220 vs. 321 days; P<0.001). Multivariate analysis for LD patients indicated that performance status (hazard ratio 2.072; P=0.003) and commercial availability of AMR (0.596; P=0.022) are significant factors. The present study has demonstrated prolonged survival times for LD patients since the start of the sale of AMR. The use of AMR in ED patients requires further investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Malignancy, Osaka Prefectural Medical Center for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, 3-7-1 Habikino Habikino-shi, Osaka, 583-8588, Japan. suzukih@opho.jp
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirashima
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasada
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Motohiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamiya
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: Nobuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kawase
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018943:Anthracyclines; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C055866:amrubicin