[A phase II study of oral VP-16 in primary lung cancer]

A clinical trial of a new semi-synthetic podophyllotoxin, VP-16, was undertaken in patients with primary lung cancer; 56 of the 81 evaluable patients had small cell carcinoma, 9 adenocarcinoma, 8 epidermoid carcinoma, 7 large cell carcinoma, and 1 adenosquamous carcinoma. A dose of 200 mg/body/day orally for 5 consecutive days was administered every 3 to 4 weeks. Partial response (PR) was attained in 19 out of 81 (23%) and PR + MR was 35 out of 81 (43%). PR and minor response (MR) were seen as follows; small cell carcinoma, 17 PR (30%), 13 MR; epidermoid carcinoma, 2 PR (25%), 1 MR; adenocarcinoma, 1 MR; adenosquamous carcinoma, 1 MR. The dose-limiting factor was leukopenia, while thrombocytopenia was experienced in 2 cases. Clinical toxicities noted were anorexia, nausea, vomiting, stomatitis, diarrhea and alopecia, but these were well tolerated in all cases. The result indicated that VP-16 has considerable efficacy in small cell carcinoma and epidermoid carcinoma of the lung and hence its usefulness in combination chemotherapy was suggested.