Etoposide (VP-16) containing combination chemotherapy for treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer.

ABSTRACT

A combination chemotherapy consisting of VP-16, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and CCNU was used to treat 24 patients of small cell lung cancer (extensive stage disease - 15 and limited stage - 9). In addition, radiotherapy of 1000 to 4000 cGys was given to primary disease in chest in 16 patients. The overall response rate was 95.8% with complete response (CR) in 9 (37.5%) and partial (PR) in 14 (58.3%) cases. The overall median survival was 24 weeks. In patients with CR, it was 39 weeks and in those with PR this was 22.5 weeks. The lone non-responder survived for only 8 weeks. The drugs were well tolerated.