Abstract
Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of carboplatin (CBDCA) and weekly paclitaxel (PTX) combination chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) . Methods. Retrospective analysis was performed of 191 patients with advanced NSCLC, who had received chemotherapy with CBDCA of area under the curve (AUC) 5-6 (day 1) and 60-100 mg/m2 PTX (days 1, 8, 15) every 4 weeks. Results. Chemotherapy was administered in 1-6 courses (median, 3 courses) . The overall response rate was 50%. The median time to progression was 160 days, and the median survival time (MST) was 379 days. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 77 patients (41%) , and hypersensitivity to the anticancer drugs, pneumonitis and febrile neutropenia were observed in 2 (1%), 3 (2%) and 3 (2%) patients, respectively. We divided subjects into a good-physical condition (PC) group (129) and a poor-PC group (62), and evaluated the efficacy and safety of this chemotherapy. The good PC patients were able to participate in the clinical trial, however, the poor PC patients were not. The MST was 486 days in the good-PC group, and 271 days in the poor-PC group. Overall toxicities were generally equivalent in both groups. However, grade 2 or more fatigue was frequently observed in the poor PC patient group. Conclusion. This regimen can yield a good response, and is safe for patients with advanced NSCLC, especially for patients in good PC. Moreover, it was also useful even for patients in poor PC to prolong their survival.
