[Perioperative adjuvant chemotherapy with bleomycin in bronchogenic squamous cell cancer. A prospective randomized...

Bleomycin (BLM) was given perioperatively and 3 and 6 months postoperatively in a dosage of 150 mg per course (total: 450 mg) to 37 patients with surgically resectable squamous-cell lung cancer. 37 randomized control patients with resectable squamous-cell lung cancer were compared to the chemotherapy-group. 5-year overall survival of the BLM group was 46.3%, that of the controls 40.5% (Mantel-Haenszel test; p greater than 0.05). BLM-treated stage I showed a 5-year survival of 47.9% (controls: 55%), BLM stage II 50% (controls: 33.3%), BLM stage III 40% (controls: 21.4%). The difference is not statistically significant. No severe adverse effects of therapy on either wound healing, or perioperative mortality of lung function were observed.