Regimen Prolongs Survival of Lung Cancer Patients

A phase II trial has shown that 53% of lung cancer patients given docetaxel (Taxotere) immediately after conventional chemotherapy with cisplatin and radiotherapy remained alive at two-year followup. Until now, the highest reported two-year survival rate was 34%. The patients in the study had stage IIIB nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study was reported by researchers from the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG, San Antonio, TX, USA) at the 9th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Tokyo.

The 83 eligible study participants (34-80 years old) had newly diagnosed bronchogenic cancer that was too extensive to be cured by surgery. With stage IIIB NSCLC, disease has spread to surrounding organs and there may be extensive lymph node involvement. The study subjects received docetaxel intravenously about four weeks after the completion of chemotherapy and radiation, and the treatment was repeated every 21 days for three cycles, which is called consolidation therapy.

The median survival was 26 months, and the one-year survival rate was 76%. In an earlier SWOG trial, in which two additional cycles of cisplatin were given, the median survival was 15 months, with a one-year survival of 58%. Side effects during the consolidation docetaxel included neutropenia. Three patients died of pulmonary complications.

The Southwest Oncology Group is one of the largest National Cancer Institute-sponsored cancer clinical trials cooperative groups. It coordinates cancer treatment and chemoprevention studies conducted by more than 4,000 doctors throughout the United States, Canada, and Korea.