A multicenter phase II study of the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel in previously treated patients with small cell lung cancer

• Published in: Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 329 - 333
• Main Authors: Agelaki, Sofia, Veslemes, Marinos, Syrigos, Kostas, Palamidas, Filippos, Polyzos, Aristidis, Papakotoulas, Pavlos, Kentepozidis, Nikolaos, Milaki, Georgia, Tzanakis, Nikolaos, Kouroussis, Charalambos, Vamvakas, Lambros, Georgoulias, Vassilis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-03-2004; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma, Small Cell - drug therapy; Deoxycytidine - administration & dosage; Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives; Docetaxel; Female; Gemcitabine; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pneumology; Pretreated SCLC; Salvage Therapy; Taxoids - administration & dosage; Tumors of the respiratory system and mediastinum; Gemcitabine; Pretreated SCLC; Docetaxel; Antineoplastic agent; Human; Lung disease; Respiratory disease; Multicenter study; Lung cancer; Malignant tumor; Treatment; Phase II trial; Small cell carcinoma
• ISSN: 0169-5002; 1872-8332
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2003.08.031

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel in pretreated patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).
Patients and methods: Twenty-two pretreated patients (median age 61 years, PS: 0–1 in 77% and 2 in 23%) with limited or extensive stage disease were treated with gemcitabine 1000
mg/m
2 on days 1 and 8 and docetaxel 75
mg/m
2 on day 8, every 21 days. Fifteen (68%) of the 22 patients had received two prior regimens and fourteen (64%) were refractory to front-line chemotherapy.
Results: All patients were evaluable for efficacy analysis. No complete or partial responses were observed. Disease stabilization was obtained in one (5%) patient. The median survival was 14 weeks and the six-month survival rate was 28%. WHO grade 2 and 3 toxicities were infrequent and easily manageable.
Conclusion: The combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel was inactive as salvage treatment in this poor prognosis group of patients with SCLC.