Induction chemotherapy plus high-dose radiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone in locally advanced unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer

Abstract

Background: High-dose radiation therapy is generally recommended as standard treatment in regionally advanced unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but median- and long-term survival remain poor. Some reports have recently shown an improvement of results in advanced NSCLC when cisplatin was included in the chemotherapy regimens. Therefore, we designed a randomized trial to determine whether induction chemotherapy before high-dose radiotherapy improves response rate and survival in stage III NSCLC over that achieved with radiotherapy alone.

Patients and methods: From March, 1984 to December, 1988, 66 consecutive patients with stage III unresectable NSCLC were randomized to one of two treatment arms; 61 were evaluable for survival and 58 for response and toxicity. Patients randomly assigned to arm A received cisplatin (CDDP 100 mg/m2 on day 1) and etoposide (VP 16 120 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, 3) every 3 wks for 3 courses followed by radiotherapy 56 Gy on pre-treatment tumor volume and 40 Gy on mediastinum and bilateral supraclavicular nodes. Patients assigned to arm B received only the same radiotherapy. The 61 eligible patients were comparable in terms of age, performance status, histology and treatment.

Results: Response rate was 53% in arm A and 32% in arm B. The median survival was 52 wks for the combined treatment arm and 36 wks for the radiation therapy arm. At six years of follow-up all the patients were dead. Toxicity was mild and no treatment-related deaths were recorded.

Conclusion: Induction chemotherapy produced a better response rate and a trend of improved survival (4 months) but a significant survival advantage was not achieved (p < 0.11), probably because of the small number of patients enrolled in the trial.