title: Maintenance treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: results of an international expert panel meeting of the Italian association of thoracic oncology.
abstract: Several randomized trials have recently investigated the role of maintenance treatment for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with responding or stable disease after completion of first-line chemotherapy. Maintenance strategy has relevant implications in terms of potential toxicity, logistics and costs, and all of these aspects should be taken into account, together with the magnitude of benefit for the patient. In order to assess the strengths and limitations of available evidence, to help clinical practice, and to suggest priorities for future clinical research, the Italian Association of Thoracic Oncology (AIOT) organized an International Experts Panel Meeting on maintenance treatment of advanced NSCLC, which took place in Sperlonga (Italy) in May 2011. Based on the available evidence, panelists agreed that maintenance therapy represents a treatment option in advanced NSCLC. Maintenance should be discussed with patients not progressed after 4-6 cycles of first-line chemotherapy, who are fit (performance status 0-1) and without persistent chemotherapy-induced toxicity. Patients need to be well informed about potential advantages and disadvantages of accepting additional therapy without a "treatment-free period". Two different strategies, switch or continuation maintenance, are supported by available evidence. At the moment, there is no direct comparison between switch maintenance and continuation maintenance. For future trials, the panel recommends the use of overall survival as the primary endpoint, with pre-defined second-line treatment. Translational research is essential to identify predictive factors, and should be performed, whenever feasible, in order to achieve treatment optimization with proper patient selection.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, S.G.Moscati Hospital, Avellino, Italy. cgridelli@libero.it
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gridelli
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Marinis
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Maio
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardizzoni
authors.forename: Chandra P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Belani
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cappuzzo
authors.forename: Fortunato
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ciardiello
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fidias
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Paz-Ares
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perrone
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pirker
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Petris
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stahel
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D003245:Consensus Statements as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D060046:Maintenance Chemotherapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents