RSS Feeds
Small-Cell Carcinoma of the Lung: Combined Chemotherapy and Radiation
A Southwest Oncology Group Study
- R. B. LIVINGSTON, M.D.;
- T. N. MOORE, M.D.;
- L HEILBRUN, M.D.;
- R. BOTTOMLEY, M.D.;
- D. LEHANE, M.D.;
- S. E. RIVKIN, M.D.; and
- T. THIGPEN, M.D.
- San Antonio, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Seattle, Washington; and Jackson, Mississippi
Abstract
Chemotherapy (doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and vincristine) was given in a sequential fashion with radiation of the primary tumor and brain to 358 patients with small-cell lung carcinoma (extensive disease in 250, limited in 108). Complete regression of tumor was obtained in 14% of patients with extensive disease and 41% of patients with limited disease, and complete or partial response in 57% and 75%, respectively. Median survival was 26 weeks for patients with extensive disease and 52 weeks for those with limited disease. Response duration was longer for patients in complete remission; one third had disease-free survival > 1 year. Toxicity from the combined treatment modalities was no greater than expected from the components given separately: fatal in 3.9%, and life-threatening but reversible in 8.4% of patients. Whole-brain radiation was effective in preventing isolated relapse at that site. This therapy appears both feasible and effective, with acceptable risks and some benefit to most patients.
Article and Author Information
-
▸From the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas; the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina; the University of Texas System Cancer Center, M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Southwest Oncology Group Statistical Office, and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the Tumor Institute of the Swedish Hospital Medical Center, Seattle, Washington; and the University of Mississippi Medical Center; Jackson, Mississippi.
-
▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to the Southwest Oncology Group, Operations Office, 3500 Rainbow Blvd., Suite 100; Kansas City, KS 66103.
-
- Received July 1, 1977.
- Accepted November 8, 1977.
Related Clinical Content
