Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of carboplatin plus weekly paclitaxel as first-line therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: Forty-nine patients were analyzed retrospectively. Every 4 weeks patients received 70 mg/m(2)paclitaxel on days 1, 8, and 15, and AUC 5-6 carboplatin on day 1.
Results: A median of four cycles (range, 1-7) was administered. Twenty-four patients had a partial response, and the overall response rate was 48.9%. The median survival time was 12.8 months and the 1-year survival was 50.7%. Overall toxicities were mild. The most common toxicity was neutropenia, grade 3/4 in 32% of the patients. Grade 3/4 hematologic toxicities included anemia (16%) and thrombocytopenia (8%). Grade 3/4 non-hematologic toxicities included febrile neutropenia (2%), pneumonia (10%) and interstitial pneumonia (2%). Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy was seen in one patient (2%).
Conclusions: These results demonstrate that this regimen is an active and tolerable treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC. It is suggested that this weekly regimen should be considered as one of the standard therapies for future chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC.