Treatment Information

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Lung Cancer treatment details. Chemotherapy, Biologic therapy.

Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, Canada.

Survival: monthsCountry:Canada
Toxiciy Grade:4City/State/Province:Edmonton
Treatments:Chemotherapy, Biologic therapyHospital:Cross Cancer Institute
Drugs:Journal:Link
Date:Dec 2007

Description:

Patients: This phase II study involved one hundred thirty one patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. The median age was 66 years old, ranging from 35-84. Nineteen of the patients had never smoked. There were 58 men and 73 women in this study.

Treatment: Patients were treated with either the chemotherapy drugs gemcitabine and cisplatin, or these drugs and the monoclonal antibody cetuximab (a biological therapy).

Toxicity: Patients treated with cetuximab and chemotherapy were more likely to have serious adverse events than patients treated with cisplatin and gemcitabine only. Grade 3/4 neutropenia with fever occurred in 4.7% of patients receiving cetuximab in addition to chemotherapy, and in 1.5% of patients treated with the chemotherapy only. Grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia occurred in 57.8% of patients treated with chemotherapy and cetuximab, and 44.6% of patients receiving chemotherapy alone. Other grade 3/4 toxicities included rash, dyspnea, fatigue, and anorexia.

Results: The median overall survival was 11.99 months for patients treated with gemcitabine, cisplatin, and cetuximab and 9.26 months for patients treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin.

Support: This study was supported by research funds from Bristol-Myers Squibb and ImClone Systems Incorporated, which developed and/or markets cetuximab as ERBITUX® and cisplatin as Platinol®-AQ.

Correspondence: Dr. Charles A. Butts





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