Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel may be a feasible option in inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer: a single center experience

Abstract

Purpose: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is a standard treatment for patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). An optimal chemotherapy regimen with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy is not known. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and toxicity of CCRT with carboplatin [area under curve (AUC) 2] and paclitaxel (80 mg/m(2)) during CCRT.

Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective survival analysis using medical records of 40 patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC that were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy with carboplatin-paclitaxel (AUC 2, 60 mg/m2).

Results: The most common histopathology was adenocarcinoma, which was diagnosed in 18 patients (45%). There were 12 stage IIIA patients (30%) and 28 stage IIIB patients (70%). The median follow-up time was 22.5 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.9-72.2]. Median disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were 22.5 months (95% CI, 18.1-27.0) and 53.5 months (95% CI, 23.5-82.8). Grade 3-4 hematological and non-hematological toxicities were seen in 8 (20%) and 5 (12.5%) patients, respectively.

Conclusion: This study showed that CCRT with weekly carboplatin-paclitaxel provides similar outcomes to cases in the literature and the regimen seems to be feasible with a low rate of grade 3-4 toxicity during CCRT of non operable stage III NSCLC. Keywords: Carboplatin, non-small cell lung cancer, chemoradiotherapy, paclitaxel