Analysis of long-term survivors after platinum containing chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Among 195 patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC), we evaluated the characteristics of two-year survivors. All the patients with stage IIIA-IV disease received platinum containing combination chemotherapy at Tsukuba University Hospital between 1985 and 1996. Fourteen patients (7.2%) and 7 patients (3.6%) survived for more than 2 and 3 years, respectively. Ten of the 14 responded to initial chemotherapy, and 9 patients received additional treatment such as thoracic irradiation and/or surgical resection. Three of the 14 patients survived more than 5 years disease free, one of them survived more than 10 years. From the results uni- and multivariate analyses of these patients, early stage of the disease, low number of metastatic site, without associated lung disease were confirmed as significant determinants of survival. This study revealed that a small proportion of patients with advanced NSCLC might be potentially curable with appropriate treatment.