Clinical Response of Docetaxel Plus Cisplatin and Paclitaxel Plus Carboplatin Chemotherpy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Cho, Gye Jung; Ju, Jin Young; Park, Kyung Hwa; Son, Chang Young; Wi, Jeong Ook; Kim, Kyu Sik; Kim, Yu Il; Lim, Sung Chul; Kim, Young Chul; Park, Kyung Ok

Abstract

PURPOSE: Almost 80% of primary lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and their prognosis is very poor since only one-fourth of patients with NSCLC present with a resectable disease at the time of diagnosis. During the last 10 years, the role of chemotherapy for NSCLC has been expanding as an adjunctive to radiation and surgery, as well as to palliative therapy for stage IV NSCLC. This study is a retrospective analysis of two chemotherapeutic regimens for the treatment of advanced NSCLC.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Between January 1999 and December 2001, 109 patients with histologically proven NSCLC (> or = stage IIIA), who received either the DP (Docetaxel 75 mg/m2 +Cisplatin 75 mg/m2, n=63, 57.8%) or the TC (Paclitaxel 175 mg/m2+ Carboplatin 5* AUC mg, n=46, 42.2%) combination chemotherapies were included.
RESULTS
The patients ages ranged from 46 to 77 years, and the patients in the DP group (56.3+/-8.6 years) were younger than those in the TC group (62.1+/-8.8 years) (p<0.05). Seventy (DP: 39 and TC: 31) of 109 patients were eligible for their response to the combination chemotherapies. There were 2 complete responses (CR) (5.1%) and 19 partial responses (PR) (46.2%) documented in the DP group (response rate, RR: 51.3%), and 11 PR (35.5%) in the TC group (RR: 35.5%). The survival was longer in the DP group compared to the TC group (median survival 19.5 months vs. 17.1 months, p< 0.05). Grade 4 neutropenia occurred in 30 patients (47.6%) treated with the DP regimen and in 10 (21.7%) treated with the TC regimen (p<0.05). Grade 3~4 nausea and vomiting occurred in 11 patients (17.5%) in the DP group and 4 (8.7%) in the TC group (p>0.05). Grade 3~4 peripheral neuropathy occurred in 5 patients (7.9%) in the DP group and in 8 (17.4%) in the TC group (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION
The combination chemotherapies of docetaxel plus cisplatin and paclitaxel plus carboplatin are active against advanced stage NSCLC, with acceptable toxicities. As there are differences in the baseline characteristics between the two groups, no differences in survivals or response rates could be concluded.