title: Low dose fractionated cisplatin plus gemcitabine for elderly patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer: a retrospective analysis.
abstract: The aim of the study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of gemcitabine-cisplatin in elderly patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study included 59 patients aged >70 years consecutively admitted to our Department. treatment consisted of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8, and low-dose fractionated cisplatin 20 mg/m(2) on days 1, 2, 3 of a 21-day cycle. Toxicity was graded according to the world Health Organization (WHO) criteria.A total of 281 cycles was administered. Hematological toxicities of grade 3 and 4 were seen in 17% and 5% of patients, respectively. Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity was 3%, grade 2 neuropathy was 2%. Twenty-nine partial responses with an objective response rate of 49% were obtained. No complete responses were observed. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 7.8 and 15.5 months respectively. Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy at low doses appears to be safe and active in older patients with advanced NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, USL1, Massa Carrara, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pezzuolo
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pennucci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mambrini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pacetti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orlandi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tartarini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Del Freo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cantore
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000093542:Gemcitabine
chemical_list: D003841:Deoxycytidine; D002945:Cisplatin; D000093542:Gemcitabine