A Phase II Study of Weekly Paclitaxel Plus Gemcitabine as a Second-Line Therapy in Patients with Metastatic or Recurrent Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

PurposePaclitaxel (P) and gemcitabine (G) are clinically synergistic in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). We evaluated the efficacy of PG as a salvage treatment for SCLC patients whose disease progressed after a platinum-containing regimen.Materials and MethodsEligibility included histologically confirmed SCLC, one dimensionally measurable disease, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2, and progressive disease after platinum-based chemotherapy. Treatment consisted of P (80 mg/m2) and G (1,000 mg/m2) on days 1 and 8 of each cycle of 21 days until disease progression.ResultsThirty-three patients seen between December 2005 and February 2009 were selected into this study. Thirty patients (91%) had received irinotecan-platinum, and three had received etoposide-platinum. Sixteen patients (49%) had a treatment-free interval of less than 3 months. The overall response rate was 30.3% (29.4% in sensitive relapse and 31.3% in refractory relapse). The median time to progression was 12.0 weeks and median overall survival (OS) 31.0 weeks, with a 1-year OS rate of 30.3%. Toxicities were moderate and manageable with 18.2% grade (G) 4 neutropenia, 24.2% G3 thrombocytopenia, 6.1% G3 sensory neuropathy, and 3% G3 asthenia. One patient developed febrile neutropenia.ConclusionSecond-line paclitaxel and gemcitabine were well-tolerated and moderately active in SCLC patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.

Clinical predictors of survival in patients with relapsed/refractory small-cell lung cancer treated with checkpoint inhibitors: a German multicentric real-world analysis

“…For more than a decade, no new substances were approved to treat relapsed or refractory (R/R) advanced or metastatic disease despite a multitude of prospective clinical trials, including cytotoxic agents, 4 – 10 antibodies, 11 , 12 and targeted therapies. 13 – 17 …”

Response to and toxicity of gemcitabine for recurrent ovarian cancer according to number of previous chemotherapy regimens

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Iron oxide nanoparticles induce ferroptosis via the autophagic pathway by synergistic bundling with paclitaxel

“…PTX is one of the most frequently prescribed medications in Japanese clinical practice to treat recurrent SCLC and the efficacy of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-PTX monotherapy might be moderate for heavily treated, relapsed SCLC patients (19). Several studies reported the use of PTX combined with carboplatin, gemcitabine or albumin-bound PTX nanoparticles for the treatment of metastatic or recurrent SCLC, indicating that PTX as second-line chemotherapy is a good choice for the treatment of patients with SCLC (48)(49)(50). After nano-microsized modification, PTX is an ideal drug for the treatment of SCLC due to its improved therapeutic efficiency and diminished side effects.…”