Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Cisplatin, Epirubicin and VP-16 for Stage IIIA-IIIB Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Twenty patients with stage IIIA-IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer were treated with cisplatin, epirubicin and VP-16 (PEV) neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CDDP, 70 mg/m2, i.v., d 1; EDX, 60 mg/m2, i.v., d 1; VP-16, 100 mg/m2, i.v., d 1-2-3; every 3 weeks). A partial response was obtained in 11 cases (55%), stable disease in 3 cases (15%), and progressive disease in 6 cases (30%). After chemotherapy, 8 (40%) patients, all achieving a partial response, were elegible for surgery: 5 (25%) had a complete resection (4 IIIA and 1 IIIB) and 3 (15%) an incomplete resection. The treatment was well tolerated. These data show that PEV is an active regimen for neoadjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC and recommend this therapeutic approach for stage IIIA patients.

Survival Outcome of Inoperable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Conventional Dose Epirubicin and Paclitaxel as First-Line Treatment

“…There were only a few patients with advanced NSCLC treated with conventional dose epirubicin monotherapy in the literature [8]. Conventional dose epirubicin has been combined with various chemotherapeutic agents in several phase II studies in advanced NSCLC [24, 25]. The rationale for the use of conventional dose epirubicin instead of HDEpi was to reduce toxicity for patients with relatively poor performance status in a palliative setting.…”