Paclitaxel and lung cancer: new preparation. No therapeutic progress

(1) Paclitaxel is now licensed, in combination with cisplatin, for the treatment of non small-cell lung cancer in patients not qualifying for surgery or radiotherapy. (2) The clinical file is relatively bulky but of mediocre methodological quality. (3) In one trial the cisplatin + paclitaxel combination was neither more effective nor better tolerated globally than cisplatin monotherapy at a higher dose. (4) The cisplatin + paclitaxel combination has also been compared with the cisplatin + etoposide and cisplatin + teniposide combinations, but showed neither greater clinical efficacy nor fewer adverse effects.