Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1985 Sep;52(3):327–332. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1985.197

Three months treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for small cell lung cancer.

N Thatcher, R Stout, D B Smith, G Grötte, M Winson, H Bassett, K B Carroll
PMCID: PMC1977208  PMID: 2994703

Abstract

Fifty-five patients with inoperable but limited stage small cell carcinoma of the bronchus and a further 15 patients with contra lateral neck nodes, pleural effusions and marrow involvement were entered into the study and treated. The 3 month treatment regimen comprised 3 courses of etoposide with cyclophosphamide at 2.5 gm-2 followed by methotrexate and radiotherapy, no maintenance treatment was given. The complete response rate in the total patient group was 54% and the partial response rate 21%. The median survival was 11 months for the 70 patients, 15 months for the complete responders, and those patients with a bronchoscopically confirmed complete response survived significantly longer. There was no significant difference between the patients with strictly limited stage disease and those in the broader category. Eight patients are tumour free and alive one year or more after the end of treatment. The median followup is 17 months. Twenty-four patients were delayed 1-2 weeks during treatment because of chemotherapy induced toxicity. Six patients died probably of infection associated with leucopaenia. The majority of the patients' Karnofsky performance improved with the treatment as did their breathlessness assessed on a respiratory score. The short intensive chemotherapy regimen of 3 months produced similar results to those following more prolonged treatment regimens.

Full text

PDF
327

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aisner J., Whitacre M., Van Echo D. A., Wiernik P. H. Combination chemotherapy for small cell carcinoma of the lung: continuous versus alternating non-cross-resistant combinations. Cancer Treat Rep. 1982 Feb;66(2):221–230. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bakker W., Nijhuis-Heddes J. M., van Oosterom A. T., Noordijk E. M., Hermans J., Dijkman J. H. Combined modality treatment of short duration in small cell lung cancer. Eur J Cancer Clin Oncol. 1984 Aug;20(8):1033–1037. doi: 10.1016/0277-5379(84)90105-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cohen M. H., Creaven P. J., Fossieck B. E., Jr, Broder L. E., Selawry O. S., Johnston A. V., Williams C. L., Minna J. D. Intensive chemotherapy of small cell bronchogenic carcinoma. Cancer Treat Rep. 1977 May-Jun;61(3):349–354. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cortés Funes H., Dominguez P., Torrubia A. P., Lanzos E., Mendez M., Mendiola C. Treatment of small cell lung cancer with a combination of VP16-213 and cyclophosphamide with cisplatin or radiotherapy. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 1982;7(2-3):181–186. doi: 10.1007/BF00254545. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ihde D. C., Makuch R. W., Carney D. N., Bunn P. A., Cohen M. H., Matthews M. J., Minna J. D. Prognostic implications of stage of disease and sites of metastases in patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung treated with intensive combination chemotherapy. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1981 May;123(5):500–507. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1981.123.5.500. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Oldham R. K., Greco F. A. Small-cell lung cancer. A curable disease. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 1980;4(3):173–177. doi: 10.1007/BF00254014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Pointon R. C., Askill C., Hunter R. D., Wilkinson P. M. Treatment of advanced head and neck cancer using synchronous therapy with methotrexate and irradiation. Clin Radiol. 1983 Jul;34(4):459–462. doi: 10.1016/s0009-9260(83)80246-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Souhami R. L., Geddes D. M., Spiro S. G., Harper P. G., Tobias J. S., Mantell B. S., Fearon F., Bradbury I. Radiotherapy in small cell cancer of the lung treated with combination chemotherapy: a controlled trial. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 Jun 2;288(6431):1643–1646. doi: 10.1136/bmj.288.6431.1643. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Souhami R. L., Harper P. G., Linch D., Trask C., Goldstone A. H., Tobias J. S., Spiro S. G., Geddes D. M., Richards J. D. High-dose cyclophosphamide with autologous marrow transplantation for small cell carcinoma of the bronchus. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 1983;10(3):205–207. doi: 10.1007/BF00255764. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Spittle M. F. Methotrexate and radiation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1978 Jan-Feb;4(1-2):103–107. doi: 10.1016/0360-3016(78)90123-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Thatcher N., Wagstaff J., Wilkinson P., Palmer M., Crowther D. Intermittent high-dose cyclophosphamide with and without prednisolone: a study of the relationships between toxicity, response and survival in metastatic lung cancer. Cancer. 1982 Sep 15;50(6):1051–1056. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19820915)50:6<1051::aid-cncr2820500605>3.0.co;2-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES