CIS-DIAMMINEDICHLOROPLATINUM (CDDP) THERAPY FOR BRAIN METASTASIS OF LUNG-CANCER .2. CLINICAL EFFECTS

Parenchymal brain tumors, which were metastases of primary lung cancer , were surgically removed from 25 patients. During the operation, pati ents were administered (intravenous or intracarotid) 100 mg/sq m of ci s-diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP) and postoperatively, they received i ntravenous CDDP at 3-month intervals for 1 year. The results of this m ode of treatment were compared with those obtained in 25 patients who underwent the same surgery but received other anticancer agents and in 39 patients who received no postoperative chemotherapy Patients in th e CDDP-treated group survived much longer than both of the other treat ment groups. In the CDDP, but not in the other two groups, survival wa s significantly longer in patients who had undergone resection of thei r lung tumors than in those who had not. The stage of lung cancer was not found to significantly influence survival time among CDDP-treated patients. Brain metastasis was the cause of death in 12% of the patien ts who received CDDP, in 16% those treated with other drugs, and in 26 % of those who received no chemotherapy. The incidence of local and re mote intracranial tumor recurrence, including meningeal carcinomatosis , was similar in the three groups. However, the mean interval from res ection of the metastatic brain tumor to local or remote recurrence was longer in the CDDP-treated group than in the other two groups, and th e 2-year-survival rate was significantly higher after CDDP administrat ion. These results suggest that CDDP may be useful in the therapy of m etastatic brain tumors derived from lung cancer.