title: Efficacy and safety of the combination of paclitaxel and platinum in advanced thymic carcinoma.
abstract: This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of a combination of paclitaxel and cisplatin/carboplatin for the treatment of advanced thymic carcinoma. Thirty-seven patients (23 men and 14 women, median age 47 years, performance status score ≤2) with pathologically or cytologically diagnosed advanced thymic carcinoma were recruited. Patients received 175 mg/m(2) paclitaxel on day 1 and 75 mg/m(2) cisplatin or 300 mg/m(2) carboplatin on day 2 of a 21 day cycle for at least two cycles to evaluate efficacy and adverse events. No complete response (CR) was observed; 11 patients had a partial response (PR), 16 patients had no change (NC), and 10 had progressive disease, resulting in an overall response rate of 29.7%, a stable rate of 43.2%, and a disease control rate (CR + PR + NC) of 72.9%. Grade I/II and III/IV neutropenia were observed in 21 (56.7%) and 13 (35.1%) patients, respectively. Four (10.8%) patients developed grade I/II thrombocytopenia. Grade I/II and III/IV nausea and vomiting were observed in 19 (51.2%) and five (13.5%) patients, respectively. Grade I/II liver dysfunction was observed in seven (18.9%) patients. Two patients with grade III liver dysfunction recovered after hepatoprotective treatment. The combination of paclitaxel and platinum was effective and well tolerated in patients with advanced thymic carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Peking Union Medical College Beijing China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Peking Union Medical College Beijing China.
authors.forename: Xue-Zhi
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Peking Union Medical College Beijing China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Ru
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Peking Union Medical College Beijing China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Peking Union Medical College Beijing China.
authors.forename: Yuan-Kai
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Shi
keywords: Carboplatin; cisplatin; paclitaxel; thymic carcinoma