Experience with ifosfamide combinations (etoposide or DDP) in non-small cell lung cancer

In all, 171 patients with histologically verified non-small cell lung carcinoma were treated with ifosfamide 2.0 g/m2 on days 1-5 in combination with (91 patients) etoposide 120 mg/m2 on day 1. Therapeutic regimens were repeated after 4 weeks. Supportive treatment with mesna (20% of the ifosfamide doses at 0, 4, and 8 h) was performed. Cisplatin treatment was supported by mannitol-induced diuretic hydration. The overall response rate of ifosfamide/etoposide was calculated to be 27%, with 1 complete and 24 partial remissions. The median survival time for all patients was 8.5 months, for responders 14 months (P less than 0.05), for patients with no change 9.5 months, and for patients with tumor progression 4 months. With ifosfamide/cisplatin, there were 4 complete and 21 partial remissions (response rate 35%). The median survival time for all patients was 8.3 months, for responders 11.5 months, and for patients with tumor progression 4 months. Age, sex, and histological tumor type had no significant effect on survival. Patients with better performance stage and limited disease lived significantly longer. The main side-effects of the cisplatin combination were vomiting, bone marrow depression, and neuropathy. The etoposide combination was tolerated better. Urotoxicity was not significant, as a consequence of treatment with mesna. The results show that the combination ifosfamide/etoposide or ifosfamide/cisplatin are effective in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, being comparable to other combinations of etoposide/cisplatin and vindesine/cisplatin. Because of the better tolerability, the combination ifosfamide/etoposide is superior to cisplatin combinations.