Background: Lung cancer is the most common cancer in males worldwide. The principal mode of treatment in the early stage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is surgery. However, five-year survival is only about 15% for all stages. The aim is to investigate the effect of daily low dose cisplatin concurrently with radiation therapy in advanced NSCLC patients with poor performance status.
Materials and methods: Ten patients diagnosed as inoperable Stage IIIB NSCLC with comorbid disease were assessed retrospectively in Bezmialem Vakif University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, between 2011 to 2013. ECOG performance status was between 3 and 4. Cisplatin was administered at 6 mg/m2 daily, for 5 days a week concurrently with radiotherapy using 160-200 cGy daily fractions, 54 Gy being the lowest and 63 Gy being the highest dose.
Results: Complete response at the primary tumour site was obtained in 20% patients. Grade I esophagitis was seen 70 percent of patients, and the grade II haematological toxicity rate was 20%. Median survival time was 7 months.
Conclusions: Median survival time was reasonable, despite the patients ECOG performance status of 3-4, which is similar to groups even without comorbid disorders in comparison to other published papers in the literature. Acceptable toxicity, high response rates and quality of life of patients are the other favourable features.