High-dose etoposide for central nervous system metastases of small cell lung cancer. Preliminary results

High-dose etoposide (1.0-1.5 g/m2) was given to 17 small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients with metastases in the central nervous system. In 4 out of 9 evaluable patients with brain metastases and 4 out of 5 patients with meningeal carcinomatosis a response was seen. In all patients severe myelosuppression was observed. Three patients died of septicemia during the aplastic phase. Despite severe toxicity high-dose etoposide is potentially useful for CNS metastases of SCLC.