Efficacy end points were not significantly different between experimental and reference arms, although toxicities showed differences. These findings suggest that chemotherapy in NSCLC has reached a therapeutic plateau.

The combination of vinorelbine plus gemcitabine is not more effective than single-agent vinorelbine or gemcitabine in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC.

This randomized trial failed to prospectively confirm a statistically significant role for adjuvant chemotherapy in completely resected NSCLC. Given the poor compliance with the MVP regimen used in this study, future studies should explore more effective treatments.

The possible onset of cardiotoxic manifestations during chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was evaluated in 1083 patients treated with the drug for various kinds of neoplasm. We recognized 17 cases of 5-FU cardiopathy (usually anginous crises but also myocardial infarction). The comprehensive incidence was 1.6%, with a significantly greater risk (4.5% vs 1.1%) for patients with a positive anamnesis of previous cardiopathy. On the contrary, age and combination with other antiblastic drugs had no affect on the appearance of cardiopathy. We conclude that 5-FU cardiopathy, although rare, has to be taken into account in oncologic practice, chiefly in those patients already affected with cardiac diseases.

The combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin induced a high response rate in both stage IIIB and IV NSCLC, with modest side effects. The regimen deserves further careful evaluation in a phase III prospective randomized trial.