[Chemotherapy of bronchial carcinomas (author's transl)]

Since the autumn of 1969, studies of surgical adjuvant chemotherapy and of chemotherapy and of chemotherapy alone in bronchogenic carcinoma have been undertaken in a cooperative trial group. Preliminary data from 171 radically operated patients, 88 randomized control patients, and 460 inoperable patients receiving chemotherapy only are presented. Chemotherapy was carried out as follows: 1-2 weeks after surgery the first intravenous infusion of 500 ml of 5% Leavulose including 12 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide, 12 mg/kg of 5-fluorouracil, 0.5 mg/kg of methotrexate, and 0,1 mg/kg of vinblastine was administered. The protocol requires the administration of 13 such infusions within 3 years after the operation. In general, the treatment which consisted of a total of 1445 infusions administered to 171 radically operated patients, was well tolerated and caused only minor side effects. The survival rate of the treated group of patients (calculated by the life-table method) appears promising compared with the survival rate of the randomized and historical control patients. The subdivision of patients into Feinstein categories shows a great variation, indicating the importance of the clinical parameters in influencing the prognosis. Based on a total of 2752 chemotherapeutic infusions in 460 patients with inoperable bronchogenic carcinoma, it can be stated that the treatment used was surprisingly well tolerated considering the advanced stage of disease and therefore the poorer general condition of these patients. These preliminary results justify the continuation of these clinical trials in a larger cooperative study group.