TOXICITY PROFILE OF CARBOPLATIN / VINORELBINE COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED NON SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER: A LOCAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Objective:To evaluate the toxicity, response and survival of the chemotherapeutic combination of Vinorelbine / Carboplatin.Design:A prospective, non randomized and open label study in patients with stage IIIB/IV nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC)Patients and Methods:Twenty patient (16 male, 4 female) with a mean age of 60.7 years SD. 7.2 (range 47-73) and ECOG performance status of 0-2 were enrolled into the trial. Eight patients had stage IIIB and 12 had stage IV NSCLC. Vinorelbine 30 mg /m2 diluted in 50 cc of normal saline was given as i/v slow push. Carboplatin 400 mg/m2 diluted in 200 CC of dextrose water was administered in 1 hour. Cycles were repeated every twenty one days.Results:One patient had a complete response, 8 had partial response (an overall response rate of 45%); 5 patients had stable disease and 6 were considered as treatment failures. Median survival was 6 months and overall survival was 7.3 SD 4.5 months. Mean duration of response in responding patients was 7.1 months and time to progression was 6.9 SD 4.9 months. One patient experienced febrile neutropenia requiring hospitalization and one patientdeveloped prolonged thrombocytopenia. Other than two adverse events, no remarkable toxicity was observed. There were no treatment related deaths.Conclusion:It appears that carboplatin/ vinorelbine combination chemotherapy has an acceptable toxicity profile with good tolerance.