Phase III trial comparing docetaxel and cisplatin combination chemotherapy with mitomycin, vindesine, and cisplatin combination chemotherapy with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy in locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: OLCSG 0007.

PURPOSE

To demonstrate the efficacy of docetaxel and cisplatin (DP) chemotherapy with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) for patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients age 75 years or younger with LA-NSCLC, stratified by performance status, stage, and institution, were randomly assigned to two arms consisting of DP (docetaxel 40 mg/m(2) and cisplatin 40 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, 29, and 36) or mitomycin, vindesine, and cisplatin (MVP) chemotherapy with concurrent TRT.

RESULTS

Between July 2000 and July 2005, 200 patients were allocated into either the DP or MVP arm. The survival time at 2 years, a primary end point, was favorable to the DP arm (P = .059 by a stratified log-rank test as a planned analysis and P = .044 by an early-period, weighted log-rank as an unplanned analysis). There was a trend toward improved response rate, 2-year survival rate, median progression-free time, and median survival in the DP arm (78.8%, 60.3%,13.4 months, and 26.8 months, respectively) compared with the MVP arm (70.3%, 48.1%, 10.5 months, and 23.7 months, respectively), which was not statistically significant (P > .05). Grade 3 febrile neutropenia occurred more often in the MVP arm than in the DP arm (39% v 22%, respectively; P = .012), and grade 3 to 4 radiation esophagitis was likely to be more common in the DP arm than in the MVP arm (14% v 6%, P = .056).

CONCLUSION

DP chemotherapy combined with concurrent TRT is an alternative to MVP chemotherapy for patients with LA-NSCLC.