Small Cell Bronchogenic Carcinoma: a Cyclical Alternating Combination of Epirubicin plus Cisplatin and Cyclophosphamide plus Etoposide

Summary

Forty-seven patients with advanced small-cell bronchogenic carcinoma (SCLC) were treated with a combination of epirubicin (4-EPIDX) (60 mg/m² i.v.) and cisplatin (CDDP) (50 mg/m² i.v.) on day 1, alternated with cyclophosphamide (CTX) (800 mg/m² i.v.) day 1 and etoposide (VP16) (120 mg/m² i.v.) on days 21-23. Four patients (9%) obtained a complete remission and 27 (57%) a partial remission with an overall remission rate of 66%. The median duration of response was 37 weeks (range 13-150) and the median duration of survival was 43 weeks (range 10-150). No severe bone marrow depression was noted. The other side-effects were of a mild grade.

Key Words:

• small cell lung cancer
• epirubicin
• cisplatin
• cyclophosphamide
• etoposide
• combination chemotherapy.