ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the efficacy and tolerance of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy versus single-agent chemotherapy as second-line treatment in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods A total of 85 elderly patients with advanced NSCLC after first-line treatment were retrospectively analyzed and divided into the combination therapy group(n=40,taking platinum-based doublet chemotherapy)and the single-agent chemotherapy group(n=45,receiving single-agent second-line chemotherapy).Results There were no significant differences in the objective response rate (ORR)and the disease control rate (DCR)between the combination therapy group and the single-agent chemotherapy group(27.5 ％ or 11/40 vs.20.0 ％ or 9/45,60.0％ or 24/40 vs.73.3％ or 33/45,x2 =0.662 and 1.704,P=0.416 and 0.192).The median progression-free survival(PFS)was 3.8 months for the combination therapy group and 2.8 months for the single-agent chemotherapy group(P =0.045).The rate of grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ hematological toxicity was higher in the combination therapy group than in the single-agent chemotherapy group.Conclusions Platinum-based doublet chemotherapy has longer PFS than the single-agent chemotherapy as secondline treatment in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer,and more attention should be paid to its high hematological toxicity.