Skip to main content
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 2000 Jan 18;82(2):300–307. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.1999.0919

Phase I study of dose-escalated paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (PIC) combination chemotherapy in advanced solid tumours

C Kosmas 1, N B Tsavaris 2, A Polyzos 2, N A Malamos 1, M Katsikas 2, M J Antonopoulos 1
PMCID: PMC2363298  PMID: 10646881

Abstract

Based on the already known in vitro synergy between paclitaxel (taxol), cisplatin and oxazophosphorine cytostatics and the broad spectrum of activity of the above drugs we sought to evaluate the paclitaxel (taxol)-ifosfamide-cisplatin (PIC) combination in the outpatient setting in individuals with a variety of advanced solid tumours. Cohorts of patients were entered into six successive dose levels (DLs) with drug doses ranging as follows: paclitaxel 135–215 mg m−2day 1 – (1 h infusion), ifosfamide 4.5–6.0 g m−2(total dose) – divided over days 1 and 2, and cisplatin 80–100 mg m−2(total) – divided over days 1 and 2. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was given from day 5 to 14. Forty-two patients were entered. Eighteen patients had 2–8 cycles of prior chemotherapy with no taxanes or ifosfamide (cisplatin was allowed). The regimen was tolerated with outpatient administration in 36/42 patients. Toxicities included: grade 4 neutropenia for ≤ 5 days in 27% of cycles; 5 episodes of febrile neutropenia in three patients at DL-III, -V and -VI. Grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia and cumulative grade 3 anaemia were seen in 7% and 13% of cycles respectively. Three cases of severe grade 3 neuromotor/sensory neuropathy were recorded at DL-II, -III, and -V, all after cycle 3. The maximum tolerated dose was not formally reached at DL-V, but because of progressive anaemia and asthenia/fatigue, it was decided to test a new DL-VI with doses of paclitaxel 200 mg m−2, ifosfamide 5.0 g m−2and cisplatin 100 mg m−2; this appeared to be tolerable and is recommended for further phase II testing. The response rate was 47.5% (complete response + partial response: 20/42). The PIC regimen appears to be feasible and safe in the outpatient setting. Care should be paid to neurotoxicity. Phase II studies are starting in non-small-cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer and head and neck cancer at DL-VI. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords: paclitaxel, ifosfamide, cisplatin, phase I study

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (73.2 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Bajorin D. F., McCaffrey J. A., Hilton S., Mazumdar M., Kelly W. K., Scher H. I., Spicer J., Herr H., Higgins G. Treatment of patients with transitional-cell carcinoma of the urothelial tract with ifosfamide, paclitaxel, and cisplatin: a phase II trial. J Clin Oncol. 1998 Aug;16(8):2722–2727. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1998.16.8.2722. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bunnell C. A., Thompson L., Buswell L., Berkowitz R., Muto M., Sheets E., Shulman L. N. A Phase I trial of ifosfamide and paclitaxel with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor in the treatment of patients with refractory solid tumors. Cancer. 1998 Feb 1;82(3):561–566. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19980201)82:3<561::aid-cncr19>3.0.co;2-#. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Greco F. A., Hainsworth J. D. One-hour paclitaxel infusion schedules: a phase I/II comparative trial. Semin Oncol. 1995 Jun;22(3 Suppl 6):118–123. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Horwich A., Dearnaley D. P., Norman A., Nicolls J., Hendry W. F. Accelerated chemotherapy for poor prognosis germ cell tumours. Eur J Cancer. 1994;30A(11):1607–1611. doi: 10.1016/0959-8049(94)00329-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Huizing M. T., van Warmerdam L. J., Rosing H., Schaefers M. C., Lai A., Helmerhorst T. J., Veenhof C. H., Birkhofer M. J., Rodenhuis S., Beijnen J. H. Phase I and pharmacologic study of the combination paclitaxel and carboplatin as first-line chemotherapy in stage III and IV ovarian cancer. J Clin Oncol. 1997 May;15(5):1953–1964. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1997.15.5.1953. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kearns C. M., Gianni L., Egorin M. J. Paclitaxel pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Semin Oncol. 1995 Jun;22(3 Suppl 6):16–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Klaassen U., Harstrick A., Schleucher N., Vanhoefer U., Schröder J., Wilke H., Seeber S. Activity- and schedule-dependent interactions of paclitaxel, etoposide and hydroperoxy-ifosfamide in cisplatin-sensitive and -refractory human ovarian carcinoma cell lines. Br J Cancer. 1996 Jul;74(2):224–228. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1996.341. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Laport G. F., Larson R. A. Treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Semin Oncol. 1997 Feb;24(1):70–82. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Liebmann J. E., Fisher J., Teague D., Cook J. A. Sequence dependence of paclitaxel (Taxol) combined with cisplatin or alkylators in human cancer cells. Oncol Res. 1994;6(1):25–31. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lind M. J., McGown A. T., Hadfield J. A., Thatcher N., Crowther D., Fox B. W. The effect of ifosfamide and its metabolites on intracellular glutathione levels in vitro and in vivo. Biochem Pharmacol. 1989 Jun 1;38(11):1835–1840. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(89)90419-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pagani O., Sessa C., Martinelli G., Cerny T., de Jong J., Goldhirsch A., Zimatore M., Cavalli F. Dose-finding study of paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide in advanced breast cancer. Ann Oncol. 1997 Jul;8(7):655–661. doi: 10.1023/a:1008211629858. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Palackdharry C. S. Phase I trial of dose-escalated paclitaxel and carboplatin in combination with ifosfamide and filgrastim: preliminary results. Semin Oncol. 1997 Feb;24(1 Suppl 2):S2–108-S2-112. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Parker R. J., Dabholkar M. D., Lee K. B., Bostick-Bruton F., Reed E. Taxol effect on cisplatin sensitivity and cisplatin cellular accumulation in human ovarian cancer cells. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 1993;(15):83–88. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pronk L. C., Schrijvers D., Schellens J. H., de Bruijn E. A., Planting A. S., Locci-Tonelli D., Groult V., Verweij J., van Oosterom A. T. Phase I study on docetaxel and ifosfamide in patients with advanced solid tumours. Br J Cancer. 1998;77(1):153–158. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1998.24. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Reed E., Kohn E. C., Sarosy G., Dabholkar M., Davis P., Jacob J., Maher M. Paclitaxel, cisplatin, and cyclophosphamide in human ovarian cancer: molecular rationale and early clinical results. Semin Oncol. 1995 Jun;22(3 Suppl 6):90–96. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rowinsky E. K., Chaudhry V., Forastiere A. A., Sartorius S. E., Ettinger D. S., Grochow L. B., Lubejko B. G., Cornblath D. R., Donehower R. C. Phase I and pharmacologic study of paclitaxel and cisplatin with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor: neuromuscular toxicity is dose-limiting. J Clin Oncol. 1993 Oct;11(10):2010–2020. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1993.11.10.2010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Shin D. M., Glisson B. S., Khuri F. R., Ginsberg L., Papadimitrakopoulou V., Lee J. J., Lawhorn K., Gillenwater A. M., Ang K. K., Clayman G. L. Phase II trial of paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin in patients with recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 1998 Apr;16(4):1325–1330. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1998.16.4.1325. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tishler R. B., Geard C. R., Hall E. J., Schiff P. B. Taxol sensitizes human astrocytoma cells to radiation. Cancer Res. 1992 Jun 15;52(12):3495–3497. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tishler R. B., Schiff P. B., Geard C. R., Hall E. J. Taxol: a novel radiation sensitizer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1992;22(3):613–617. doi: 10.1016/0360-3016(92)90888-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tolcher A. W. Paclitaxel couplets with cyclophosphamide or cisplatin in metastatic breast cancer. Semin Oncol. 1996 Feb;23(1 Suppl 1):37–43. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tsavaris N. B., Kosmas C. Risk of severe acute hypersensitivity reactions after rapid paclitaxel infusion of less than 1-h duration. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 1998;42(6):509–511. doi: 10.1007/s002800050853. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tsavaris N., Fountzilas G., Mylonakis N., Athanassiadis A., Kosmas C., Karakousis C., Bacoyiannis C., Kosmidis P. A randomized comparative study of antiemetic prophylaxis with ondansentron in a single 32-mg loading dose versus 8 mg every 6 h in patients undergoing cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Oncology. 1998 Nov-Dec;55(6):513–516. doi: 10.1159/000011904. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tsavaris N., Polyzos A., Kosmas C., Giannikos L., Gogas J. A feasibility study of 1-h paclitaxel infusion in patients with solid tumors. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 1997;40(4):353–357. doi: 10.1007/s002800050669. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Zanetta G., Lissoni A., Pellegrino A., Sessa C., Colombo N., Gueli-Alletti D., Mangioni C. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin, ifosfamide and paclitaxel for locally advanced squamous-cell cervical cancer. Ann Oncol. 1998 Sep;9(9):977–980. doi: 10.1023/A:1008461408626. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES