A PHASE-II STUDY OF MITOMYCIN-C, VINDESINE AND CISPLATIN COMBINED WITH ALPHA-INTERFERON IN ADVANCED NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG-CANCER

Aims and background: MVP chemotherapy (mitomycin C, vindesine or vinbl astine, cisplatin) is one of the most commonly used regimens for advan ced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Experimental data suggest a sy nergistic cytotoxic activity of alpha-interferon (alpha-IFN) when comb ined with cisplatin, mitomycin C, and vinca alkaloids. In an effort to improve MVP chemotherapy activity, we have combined this regimen with alpha-IFN. Patients and methods: Thirty-five patients with advanced N SCLC (19 stage IV) were treated with the MVP regimen (mitomycin C, 8 m g/m(2); vindesine, 3 mg/m(2); cisplatin, 75 mg/m(2), all on day 1) plu s alpha-2a-IFN, 3x10(6) U im from day 1 to 7. The cycles were repeated every 28 days, Results: There were no complete responses and 18 parti al responses, for an overall response rate of 51%. Median time to trea tment failure was 6 months (range, 1-18), and median survival was 9.5 months (range, 1-32), WHO grade 3 toxicity was recorded in up to 8% of patients, flu-like syndrome was a common complaint; one toxic death o ccurred. Conclusions: The combination yielded a level of response comp arable to that of other cisplatin-based regimens. Larger randomized tr ials are needed to assess the role of alpha-IFN combined with chemothe rapy in advanced NSCLC.