Gp. Stathopoulos et al., Paclitaxel combined with cis-platin as second-line treatment in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancers refractory to cis-platin, ONCOL REP, 6(4), 1999, pp. 797-800
We combined paclitaxel with cis-platin as second-line treatment in patients
with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had previously undergone first
-line therapy with cis-platin combined with cytotoxic drugs other than taxa
nes. The aim was to evaluate the effect of this cytotoxic combination in pa
tients with refractory tumour to cis-platin. All 36 patients in the study p
opulation were evaluable for toxicity and 35 for response. Nine patients we
re stage IIIa, 15 IIIb and 12 IV. Prior treatment involved cis-platin plus
vindesine and epirubicin or vinblastine and mitomycin-C; second-line treatm
ent involved cis-platin (90 mg/m(2)) and paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)), administ
ered once every 3 weeks with 2-6 courses per patient. Partial response (40%
) was obtained in 14 patients, 8 of whom had achieved minor response or sta
ble disease after first-line treatment. Response duration was a minimum of
3 months. Toxicity was tolerable; only neurotoxicity was grade II in 16.7%
of the patients. On the basis of our results, paclitaxel can be recommended
as a very effective cytotoxic drug for NSCLC patients.