Doxorubicin, cisplatin, and Corynebacterium parvum in non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma

Forty previously untreated patients with stage III non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma were treated with doxorubicin (Adriamycin) at a dose of 60 mg/m2 iv on Day 1 and cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum[II]) at a dose of 60-80 mg/m2 iv on Day 1, every 4 weeks. Each patient was randomized to receive iv Corynebacterium parvum either on Day 1 or on Day 14 of each 4-week cycle. There were no complete responses and only seven of 40 (17.5%) patients achieved a partial response, with an overall median survival of 23 weeks. Those patients with stable disease survived longest. There was no difference in median survival among those patients receiving C. parvum on Day 1 (25 weeks) and among those receiving C. parvum on Day 14 (17 weeks).