title: Gemcitabine plus paclitaxel as second-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this retrospective study was to determine response rates, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and toxicity of gemcitabine and paclitaxel combinations with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients (NSCLC) who have progressive disease after platinum-based first-line chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively evaluated the file records of patients treated with gemcitabine plus paclitaxel in advanced or metastatic NSCLC cases in a second-line setting. The chemotherapy schedule was as follows: gemcitabine 1500 mg/m2 and paclitaxel 150 mg/m2 administered every two weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight patients (45 male, 3 female) were evaluated; stage IIIB/IV 6/42; PS0, 8.3%, PS1, 72.9%, PS2, 18.8%; median age, 56 years old (range 38-76). Six (12.5%) patients showed a partial response (PR), 13 (27.1%) stable disease (SD), and 27 (56.3%) progressive disease (PD). The median OS was 6.63 months (95% CI 4.0-9.2); the median PFS was 2.7 months (95% CI 1.8-3.6). Grade 3 and 4 hematologic toxicities, including neutropenia (n=4, 8.4%), and anemia (n=3, 6.3%) were encountered, but no grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia. One patient developed febrile neutropenia. There were no interruption for reasons of toxicity and no exitus related to therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combination of two-weekly gemcitabine plus paclitaxel was an effective and well-tolerated second-line chemotherapy regimen for advanced or metastatic NSCLC patients previously treated with platinum-containing chemotherapy. Although the most common and dose limiting toxicities were neutropenia and neuropathy, this regimen was tolerated well by the patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey. meltembaykara@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Meltem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baykara
authors.forename: Ugur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Coskun
authors.forename: Veli
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Berk
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.forename: Muhammet Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benekli
authors.forename: Halit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.forename: Mevlude
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inanc
authors.forename: Abdurrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Isikdogan
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sevinc
authors.forename: Emin Tamer
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Elkiran
authors.forename: Umut
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Demirci
authors.forename: Suleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buyukberber
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D002282:Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018287:Carcinoma, Large Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate