POLYCHEMOTHERAPY IN ADVANCED NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG-CANCER - A METAANALYSIS

We did a meta-analysis of all published polychemotherapy vs supportive care clinical trials in patients with non-resectable non small cell l ung cancer. 7 studies with more than 700 patients were selected. We us ed the number of deaths at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months as the endpoints because we were unable to obtain all the individual data. Our analysi s showed a reduction in mortality during the first 6 months with polyc hemotherapy. Although small, this increase in survival, together with an improved quality of life, suggests that polychemotherapy should be recommended for patients with non-resectable non small cell lung cance r.