Dual-Agent Chemotherapy Beneficial in Older Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer

Despite increased toxicity, platinum-doublet chemotherapy was associated with significant survival benefits versus monotherapy.

Single-agent chemotherapy is currently recommended for older patients with unresectable advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC; J Clin Oncol 2004; 22:330), but would dual-agent therapy be more beneficial in this population? Data from a multicenter, phase III trial in France — previously presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 meeting (JW Oncol Hematol Jul 13 2010) — provide some insight.

Researchers randomized 451 patients aged 70 to 89 with performance scores ≤2 to receive platinum-doublet chemotherapy on a 28-day cycle (carboplatin on day 1 and paclitaxel on days 1, 8, and 15) or monotherapy on a 21-day cycle (vinorelbine or gemcitabine on days 1 and 8). Each group received a median of 4 cycles of therapy.

Pla…

Reviewing Author

Lin-Chi Chen, MD, PhD