Old wine in new pipes? Treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with trofosfamide.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this retrospective study was to examine the effect of oral trofosfamide in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


METHODS
Patients with histologically or cytologically proven NSCLC, who had received at least 2 other therapies, were enrolled. The primary clinical end point was progression-free survival (PFS); secondary end points included overall survival (OS), response rate and toxicity.


RESULTS
23 patients were enrolled, 1 of whom was excluded due to non-compliance. The patients had received a median of 3 prior therapies (range 2-4). Regarding all 22 patients, median PFS was 14 weeks (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.96-18.04). The median OS was 32 weeks (95% CI 17.12-46.88). The median duration of trofosfamide therapy was 10.5 weeks (interquartile range 6.5-17.3). 20 patients (90.9%) had stable disease; 2 were not assessable. Trofosfamide therapy was stopped in 4 patients (18.2%) due to side effects.


CONCLUSIONS
Trofosfamide is an orally applicable, well-tolerated and cost-effective drug that works in patients with advanced NSCLC, who have undergone at least 2 lines of therapy. Trofosfamide seems to be a therapeutic option in NSCLC as a further therapy line. These preliminary data need to be confirmed in a larger trial.
Department of Internal Medicine I, Pneumology and Allergology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany. angelika.reissig@med.uni-jena.de
Angelika
A
Reißig
Mario
M
Walther
D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000633:toxicity; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; C003726:trofosfamide