Combination chemotherapy for relapsed small-cell lung cancer
Mené au Japon sur 180 patients atteints d'un cancer récidivant du poumon à petites cellules, cet essai randomisé multicentrique de phase III évalue l'efficacité, du point de vue de la survie globale, et la toxicité d'une chimiothérapie combinant cisplatine, étoposide et irinotécan, par rapport au topotécan seul en traitement de seconde ligne
Despite being highly responsive to initial therapy, nearly all patients with small-cell lung cancer eventually experience relapse with relatively chemoresistant disease. The standard treatment for relapsed small-cell lung cancer consists of single-agent chemotherapy, most commonly with topotecan. Use of topotecan is based on the results of two phase 3 trials; one that showed improved overall survival with topotecan compared with supportive care alone (median 26 weeks vs 14 weeks; p=0·01), and another that reported equivalent efficacy, but with lower toxicity when topotecan was compared with the combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine.