Objectives: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy for regionally advanced stage III non-small cell lung cancer is the standard treatment method. However, the clinical implications of consolidation chemotherapy following chemoradiation have been unclear. Therefore, we conducted a phase II study of concurrent weekly carboplatin plus paclitaxel treatment in combination with radiotherapy followed by vinorelbine monotherapy. The primary endpoint was the 1-year survival rate.
Patients and methods: Chemonaive PS 0-1 patients with stage IIIA/B NSCLC were enrolled. During the concurrent chemoradiation phase, patients were treated with weekly paclitaxel 40 mg/m(2) plus carboplatin AUC 2. The primary tumor and involved nodes received 60 Gy in 2-Gy fractions over 6 weeks. During the consolidation phase, vinorelbine 25 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 was repeated for three cycles.
Results: A total of 40 eligible patients (72.5 % male; median age, 63 years; range 29-74 years) were analyzed for efficacy. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histology (47.5 %), and more patients had clinical stage IIIB (55 %) cancer. The average radiation dose was 56.5 Gy, and the average number of carboplatin plus paclitaxel cycles was 4.93. Seventeen patients proceeded to the consolidation chemotherapy phase, and 14 completed three cycles of vinorelbine monotherapy. The objective response rate was 75.0 %, including 1 patient who achieved a complete response. Progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) were 46 weeks [95 % confidence interval (CI) 31-64 weeks] and 110 weeks (95 % CI 90-184 weeks), respectively. The OS rate at 1 and 2 years was 85.0 % (95 % CI 69.6-93.0 %) and 53.9 % (95 % CI 37.1-68.0 %), respectively.
Conclusion: Concurrent chemoradiation with weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by vinorelbine consolidation is effective for stage III non-small cell lung cancer and shows a generally mild toxicity profile.