Evaluation of the safety and compliance of 3-week cycles of vinorelbine on days 1 and 8 and cisplatin on day 1 as adjuvant chemotherapy in Japanese patients with completely resected pathological stage IB to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective study

Abstract

Objective: With regard to adjuvant chemotherapy for non-small-cell lung cancer, the usefulness of combined chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) and vinorelbine (VNR) has been reported. However, poor compliance has been reported with VNR administered weekly by the conventional method for 16 consecutive weeks, and there is no report on the safety and compliance of adjuvant chemotherapy with CDDP and VNR in Japanese patients.

Methods: The subjects were 25 non-small-cell lung cancer patients who received CDDP and VNR as adjuvant chemotherapy at the Shizuoka Cancer Center between April 2005 and April 2008. The treatment schedule included combined treatment, with CDDP at 80 mg/m(2) administered on Day 1 and VNR at 25 mg/m(2) administered on Days 1 and 8. The treatment was repeated every 3 weeks, and each 3-week treatment schedule was designated as one cycle. A total of four cycles were administered.

Results: The main adverse events were Grade 3 or more severe neutropenia (76%), anemia (12%), anorexia (12%) and nausea (12%). Thus, the adverse events were mostly mild. There were no treatment-related deaths. The rate of completion of the four cycles was 92%. The mean dose of CDDP and VNR was 312 and 195 mg/m(2), respectively. The mean dose administered of either drug was 97.5% of the scheduled dose.

Conclusion: This study was retrospective and had some limitations, for example, non-hematological toxicity would be evaluated milder. However, it was considered that adjuvant chemotherapy with CDDP administered on Day 1 and VNR administered on Days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks was safe, and that the rate of completion of the four cycles was also satisfactory in Japanese patients.