A phase II study of the docetaxel-carboplatin chemotherapy regimen in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

The efficacy of the docetaxel-carboplatin combination chemotherapy was studied in various phase II studies. Based on these data we aimed to test the regimen in previously untreated patients with advanced advanced non-smoking lung cancer (NSCLC) with docetaxel 80 mg/m2 a standard dose of carboplatin at AUC = 5, in an attempt to define the efficacy and tolerability of the combination in an open-label phase II study. Patients with histologically confirmed advanced NSCLC stage IIIB and IV were candidates for the present study. Docetaxel was administered at 80 mg/m2 over 1 h by intravenous (IV) infusion followed by carboplatin AUC = 5 in 30 min IV infusion, both on day 1, and recycled every 21 days. Sixty patients received 263 courses of therapy in total; 231/263 (88%) were administered according to the planned doses, and 48/60 (80%) patients received chemotherapy without decrement of the dose; 32/263 (12%) of the courses were administered with a 10%-30% dose reduction. Complete responses (CR) were seen in 5 patients (8.3%) and partial responses (PR) in 16 patients (26.7%) for an overall response rate of 35%. Median duration of response was 7.5 months [95% confidence interval (CI)-7.1-7.9], time to progression (TIP) 11.5 months (95% CI-8.2-14.8), median overall survival (OS) 15.0 months (95% CI-10.8-19.2). One-year survival was 61.7%. Toxicity was acceptable; it was calculated according to the administered cycles and was mainly neutropenia: grade 3, 9% and grade 4, 2%; anemia: grade 3, 8%; nausea and vomiting: grade 3, 8%. The outpatient regimen of docetaxel-carboplatin is effective with acceptable toxicity in patients with advanced NSCLC.