Radiotherapy plus razoxane for advanced limited extent carcinoma of the lung

Forty-four patients with limited extent American Joint Committee on Cancer Stage II-III non-small cell carcinoma of the lung were randomly assigned to potentially curative radiation therapy plus one of two schedules of razoxane. The weekly schedule was 1 gram per square meter body surface area (BSA) every 8 hours for two doses per week, and the daily schedule was a fixed dose of 250 mg per day. The 50% Kaplan-Meier survival estimate for both groups combined was 9 months. There was no survival difference between the two dose-schedules. Toxicity was formidable with an 82% incidence of esophagitis, and a 20% incidence of grade III-IV esophagitis. Fifty-nine percent of patients developed hematologic toxicity. This was greater with the weekly dose-schedule (P = 0.01). Forty-one percent of patients developed radiographic or symptomatic pneumonitis. One patient developed a fatal myelitis. This program is no more effective than irradiation alone, and has substantial morbidity.