[A randomized trial of 3-drug combination chemotherapy in small cell lung cancer--CPA/ACNU/VCR vs ADR/ACNU/VCR].

From April 1981 to February 1983, 116 untreated patients (ECOG PS 0-3) with histologically or cytologically proven small cell lung cancer were randomly allocated to chemotherapy regimen using CPA.ACNU.VCR (CNV, n = 64) or ADR.ACNU.VCR (ANV, n = 52). The objective tumor response was 29.7% (19/53) for the CNV regimen and 48.1% (25/48) for the ANV regimen, but there was no statistically significant difference in these groups. Median survival time was 22.9 w for the CNV regimen (n = 64) and 42.4 w for the ANV (n = 52) regimen. The survival rate was statistically significantly higher for the ANV regimen compared to that of the CNV regimen (P greater than 5%). The toxicity showed no difference between these groups. Addition of ADR to ACNU + VCR was effective, but addition of CPA to these two drugs was not effective.