Investigation of the outpatient chemotherapy for lung cancer patients in Tokushima University Hospital

Abstract

: Platinum-doublet regimens and docetaxel as first-and second-line chemotherapy, respectively, are shown to prolong the survival of lung cancer patients in various randomized phase III studies. However, the evidence for the efficacy of chemotherapy for lung cancer in the clinical practice is still insufficient. In the present study, we investigated the effectiveness and safety of outpatient chemotherapy for lung cancer in the clinical practice. Ninety-four lung cancer cases were retrospectively analyzed. Among these cases, 67 (71.3% %) were non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 27 (28.7% %) were small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The response rates in SCLC and NSCLC patients were 55.6% % (15/27) and 16.9% % (11/65), respectively. Objective tumor response rates for the patients were found to decrease substantially with each line of treatment as described previously. All adverse events were well tolerated and no treatment-related death was observed. Median time to treatment failures (TTFs) of first-line treatment were 10.1 months and 4.8 months in SCLC and NSCLC, respectively. These findings indicate that even in the setting of clinical practice, the efficacy and safety of chemotherapy is strictly insured by the appropriate therapeutic management. J. Med. Invest. 58 : 219-226, August, 2011

Characteristics of and Risk Factors for Interstitial Lung Disease Induced by Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer

“…Patient characteristics were similar between the present study and our previous study. 17 It was recorded whether ILD existed in 62.5% of all patients before the initiation of chemotherapy, and preexisting ILD was confirmed in 17.1% of these patients. Antineoplastic drugs that carry a high risk of ILD (amrubicin, gemcitabine, irinotecan, gefitinib, and erlotinib) were administered at a significantly lower frequency to patients with preexisting ILD than to those without preexisting ILD (15.5% vs 36.3%; P < 0.01).…”