Review of paclitaxel/carboplatin in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

The management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has advanced in the last two decades. The greatest benefit has been achieved with the development of newer chemotherapeutic agents with single-agent response rates > or =20%. Recent research has focused on adding these newer agents to established drugs for NSCLC, like cisplatin and carboplatin, yielding notable improvement in response and survival rates. In particular, experience with the combination of carboplatin plus paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Princeton, NJ) has proved encouraging. This regimen is effective, tolerable, and easy to administer and has produced response rates in NSCLC as high as 62%. Phase III trials are under way to establish the specific role of this regimen in NSCLC. The success of this combination also is being expanded through studies investigating its combination in triplets with newer agents, with follow-up therapy via sequential regimens, and by the addition of biologically based treatments. The results of these trials will determine the preferred treatment approach to NSCLC for the next decade.