Gemcitabine and carboplatin used as induction regimen for elderly patients with locally advanced unresectable non-small cell lung cancer / 中国癌症杂志

ABSTRACT

Background and purpose:Lung cancer is one of most common diseases,The number of new cases of lung cancer are more than 500 000 per year in the world and it has been ranked as number one in terms of incidence of malignant tumors in China.Unfortunately about 40 percent of the patients were diagnosed as locally advanced unresectable non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Elderly patients with NSCLC also showed an increasing trend in the past years.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine(GEM) and carboplatin(CBP) used as induction regimen in the treatment of elderly patients with locally advanced unresectable NSCLC.Methods:42 cases of elderly patients have been cytologically and pathologically confirmed with locally advanced unresectable NSCLC,the age of the patients ranged from 65 to 75.The patients were treated with the combined regimen of gemcitabine and cisplatin.GEM 1 000 mg/m2 intravenously injected by drip on the 1st,8th day and the dosage of CBP was AUC 5 that was used on the 1st day,21 days apart to each cycle,most patients received 2-3 cycles.Treatment response was evaluated according to the criteria of RECIST(Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor),the side effect of the regimen was judged based on WHO criteria.Results:42 patients were evaluable and received a total of 89 cycles chemotherapy.There were no complete regression that could be observed,but 17 cases had partial regression(PR),22 cases with no change(NC) and 3 cases with progression disease(PD).The overall response rate was 40.5%.The main side effects were hematological toxicity.Conclusions:The GC regimen could be used as induction treatment for elderly patients with locally advanced unresectable NSCLC,and the regimen could be well tolerated and is safe in terms of side effects.