[Chemotherapy of small cell lung cancer]

Abstract

The recent results of chemotherapy for SCLC were reviewed in this paper. The combination chemotherapy with some highly active drugs can be summarized as follows: response rate 74-94% in limited disease (LD) and 63-90% in extensive disease (ED), complete response 39-57% in LD and 20-48% in ED, median survival 10-21 months in LD and 7-12 months in ED. To overcome drug resistance in the treatment of SCLC, non-cross resistant alternating chemotherapy has been explored. In our institute, a randomized study of continuous vs alternating regimen for SCLC was carried out from August 1982 to March 1985. This resulted in the acknowledged superiority of the alternating regimen in CR rate and the overall response rate, but no differences in survival. A current study comparing the standard chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and vincristine (CAV) to alternating CAV with etoposide (E) and cisplatin (P) has suggested an advantage for alternating chemotherapy, with a statistically superior response rate and survival. The high-dose (HD) chemotherapy for SCLC is also a new strategy to improve the current treatment results. We are now studying the efficacy of HD-E (1.0-1.5 g/m2) with or without P (80-120 mg/m2) for relapsed SCLC. The result suggested that HD-E and P is an effective treatment modality as a salvage therapy. The search for new active drugs is another important way to improve the treatment results. Since 1986, a phase II study of Carboplatin has been performed in Japan. The ongoing data suggest that Carboplatin is a highly active agent against SCLC. Finally, further research will be necessary to investigate novel modalities in order to achieve a breakthrough in the current status.