• R B Natale.
• Department of Medical Oncology, University of Southern California/Kenneth Norris Jr Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles 90033, USA.
• Semin. Oncol. 1996 Dec 1; 23 (6 Suppl 16): 51-4.

AbstractForty-nine patients with non-small cell lung cancer were treated in a study designed to establish the maximum tolerated dose of outpatient paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Princeton, NJ), given by 3-hour infusion, combined with a fixed dose of carboplatin (area under the concentration-time curve [AUC] = 6, Calvert method). The study population included 31 men and 18 women with previously untreated, unresectable stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer. Patients had a median age of 62 years (age range, 46 to 81 years) and a median Southwest Oncology Group performance status of 1 (range, 0 to 2). With six to 10 patients treated at each dose level, paclitaxel was given at a starting dose of 150 mg/m2, and doses were escalated by 25-mg/m2 increments. The carboplatin dose was fixed at an AUC of 6. Paclitaxel 250 mg/m2 was established as the maximum tolerated dose of this combination, and severe (grade 3) sensory neuropathy was defined as the dose-limiting toxicity. Objective responses were documented in 26 of 42 patients with objectively measurable disease, for an overall response rate of 62%. Although these data are preliminary, this regimen appears to be efficacious and cost-effective, and warrants further study. Paclitaxel 225 mg/m2 combined with carboplatin (AUC = 6) every 3 weeks is recommended for follow-up phase II and III clinical trials.

26 keywords...

hide…