A phase II study of carboplatin and paclitaxel as first line chemotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Summary Introduction Lung cancer is the leading cause of tumour-related deaths in the elderly population but the optimal management of advanced NSCLC in older patients has not been defined to date. The present phase II study was planned to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel in elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. Patients and methods Patients (>70 years old) who had pathologically been proven to have a NSCLC and measurable lesions were treated with paclitaxel (175 mg/m 2 for 3 h) and carboplatin [area under the concentration–time curve (AUC = 5)] on day 1 every 3 weeks. Results Forty patients were enrolled into the study. The median age was 74 years (range, 70–78 years). Approximately 85% of the patients had stage IV and 80% had a performance status (PS) of 0–1. Nine of the 40 (22.5%; 90% CI 17.6–28.1) included patients had a partial response; one patient (2.5%; 90% CI 1.7–3.2) achieved a complete response. The overall response rate was 25% (90% CI 15.3–38.6). In addition stable disease was observed in 13 patients (32.5%; 90% CI 24.3–40.7). The median survival was 7.8 months (95% confidence interval, 5.1–11.8 months). The actual 1-year survival was 18% (95% confidence interval, 12–29%). The median time to disease progression was 4.1 months (95% CI 2.8–8.5). Overall, 37.5% of patients experienced grade 3–4 neutropenia of any duration with only two patients (5%) developing neutropenic fever. Grade 3 or 4 non-haematological toxicity was uncommon apart alopecia. Conclusions In the present phase II study the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin has demonstrated to be active and safe in an age-selected population.