Abstract
Seventeen patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer, were treated by chemotherapy and concurrent chest radiotherapy. Cisplatin (100mg/m2) was given by infusion on day 1 in each course, and vindesine (3mg/m2) was given on days 1 and 8. The patients were irradiated from days 2 to 15 with single doses of 2 Gy. A total dose of 50Gy or more was delivered.
Response to this treatment was evaluable in sixteen patients. Twelve patients showed partial response (response rate=75%), three had no change, and progressive disease was observed in one other case. Among the patients with partial response, four died of cancer, two were alive with recurrent disease, and six are alive without recurrence from 5.5 to 19 months after initiation of the therapy. Myelosuppression was moderate and WBC count nadirs in 20 courses (42%) dropped to less than 1000/mm3. Esophagitis was observed in 19 courses (40%). However, neither treatment-related death nor lifethreatening complications were observed.
It was concluded that cisplatin, vindesine, and concurrent radiation therapy is an effective and tolerable treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, and further studies on this modality are required.
