Combination chemotherapy of advanced medullary and differentiated thyroid cancer. Phase II study

A group of 20 patients with advanced medullary (MTC) or differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) received a combination chemotherapy of doxorubicin (50 mg/m2), cisplatin (60 mg/m2) and vindesine (3 mg/m2). In the 18 (10 MTC, 8 DTC) evaluable patients only 1 partial remission (in a patient with MTC) and 3 minor responses (in 3 patients with DTC) were observed. These responses lasted for 15, 9, 13, and 22 months, respectively. Three MTC patients suffered from progressive disease and "no change" was seen in the other 11 patients. Toxicity, including 1 severe case of cardiomyopathy, was considerable. Thus, the combination chemotherapy of doxorubicin, cisplatin and vindesine has failed to prove superior to the commonly applied doxorubicin monotherapy in patients with advanced medullary or differentiated thyroid carcinoma.