• M Fukuoka, K Noda, K Hasegawa, H Nakajima, K Furuse, K Hirabayashi, T Ogura, H Niitani, and T Taguchi.
• 2nd Dept. of Internal Medicine, Osaka Prefectural Habikino Hospital.
• Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 1996 Nov 1; 23 (13): 1813-24.

AbstractAn early phase II cooperative study of Gemcitabine Hydrochloride (abbreviated to "gemcitabine" herewith) was conducted in patients with a variety of solid tumors (i.e., lung cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon/rectum cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and breast cancer) at 56 institutions. The aim of the first step (Step I) was to investigate the feasibility of gemcitabine in a variety of different solid tumors, including lung cancer regarding efficacy and safety. The aim of the second step (Step II) was as a result of step I (Responses were observed) to continue to investigate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine in chemonaive patients with non-small cell lung cancer. As a Step I study, gemcitabine was administered once weekly at a dose of 800 mg/m2 for a consecutive 3-week period followed by a week of rest, in multiple courses. Among the 29 eligible patients with lung cancer, partial response (PR) was achieved in 3 patients (25.0%, 95% confidence interval: 5.5-57.2%) out of 12 chemonaive patients. Adverse reactions (grade 3 or higher) seen in 29 patients with lung cancer were neutropenia (27.6%), leukopenia (13.8%), decreased hemoglobin (13.8%), thrombocytopenia (10.3%), malaise (6.9%), anorexia (3.4%), nausea/vomiting (3.4%), diarrhea (3.4%), dyspnea (3.4%) and interstitial pneumonia (3.4%). In other types of solid tumors, PR was achieved in 2 (8.7%) out of 23 eligible patients with cervical cancer and in 1 (5.3%) of 19 eligible patients with ovarian cancer, while the use of analgesics became unnecessary in 1 patient with pancreatic cancer. Incidence as well as severity of main adverse reactions in these patients were comparable to those seen in patients with lung cancer. A Step II study, in which gemcitabine was administered once weekly at a dose of 1,000 mg/m2 to chemonaive patients with non-small cell lung cancer, was conducted, referring to the results of Step I and clinical studies conducted overseas. The results of the Step II study demonstrated PR in 5 (14.3%, 95% confidence interval: 4.8 - 30.3%) out of 35 eligible patients with non-small cell lung cancer and that the main adverse reactions were comparable to those seen in the Step I study, posing no tolerability problems in particular.

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