Treatment results including more than third-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Recently, third-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was accepted as a reasonable therapeutic option in patients with a favorable performance status. In practice, however, palliative chemotherapy has been performed for patients with a favorable performance status, even after third-line chemotherapy. Although multiple cycles of palliative chemotherapy were performed for these patients, there are little data of observation for courses of treatment from first-line to the last chemotherapy. We reviewed the courses of treatment for 82 patients with advanced NSCLC that had been admitted for platinum-based chemotherapy as a first-line treatment. Additional cycles of palliative chemotherapy were provided as monotherapy, based on the attending physician's decision considering patient performance status and toxicity after disease progression for previous chemotherapy. The median number of chemotherapy lines and cycles were 2 and 7, respectively, from first-line to the last chemotherapy. The median overall survival was 24 months in the response group of first-line chemotherapy, compared to 15 months for the entire study group. In the response group, the median number of chemotherapy cycles was 15 and patients received a median of 3 lines of chemotherapy. A total of 33 patients were candidate third-line chemotherapy or more. The median survival was 23 months for patients treated with more than third-line chemotherapy, compared to 7 months for patients treated with less than second-line chemotherapy. We conclude that long-standing chemotherapy is not beneficial to all NSCLC patients. However, patients with a favorable response to first-line chemotherapy tend to receive a higher number and more cycles of chemotherapy than the non-response group. Furthermore, multi-line chemotherapy appears to increase survival in the response group. Further studies will be needed to confirm these results.

Chemotherapy for advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common, often fatal malignancy, and is most frequently diagnosed in the advanced stage. Systemic chemotherapy for advanced (Stage IIIB and IV), inoperable NSCLC has evolved over the course of the last few decades. Survival advantage was first noted with platinum chemotherapy, with ultimate development of platinum-containing doublet combinations, which have now become standard of care in the treatment of advanced NSCLC. Over the course of the last few years, multiple nonplatinum combinations have also been demonstrated to be efficacious, and the addition of bevacizumab to existing doublet regimens has improved outcomes in this population of patients. Maintenance regimens for advanced stage NSCLC are currently under extensive investigation. Clinical trials have also recently demonstrated increased efficacy for agents such as docetaxel and pemetrexed in the second line setting for refractory disease.

Systemic chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: recent advances and future directions

Systemic therapy improves the survival and quality of life of patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several new therapeutic options have emerged for advanced NSCLC, incorporating novel cytotoxic agents (taxanes, gemcitabine, pemetrexed) and molecular-targeted agents (erlotinib, bevacizumab). Efforts to improve the outcome of first-line therapy for advanced and metastatic NSCLC have primarily focused on the addition of targeted agents to platinum-based two-drug regimens. Bevacizumab, an antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, is the first drug to demonstrate superior outcomes when added to systemic chemotherapy in advanced disease. Evaluation of the role of maintenance therapy following four to six cycles of first-line combination chemotherapy is ongoing. Both cytotoxic agents and targeted agents are suitable for evaluation in the maintenance setting. Promising results have been noted with single-agent paclitaxel as maintenance therapy following four cycles of combination therapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel. Phase III studies are now under way to evaluate the roles of gemcitabine, pemetrexed, and erlotinib as maintenance therapies for patients who experience a response or disease stabilization after four cycles of combination chemotherapy. Whether this approach will be successful in extending the survival of a select group of patients remains to be seen.