High-dose etoposide with autologous bone marrow transplantation as initial treatment of small cell lung cancer--a negative report.

Seven patients with small cell lung cancer were treated with high-dose etoposide (1400-2400 mg/m2), given as a single course over 3 days, in conjunction with autologous bone marrow transplantation. Five patients achieved a partial response and two had no response. All patients required further treatment. The lack of any complete responder or good partial responder dissuaded us from entering further patients into the study, and high-dose, single-agent etoposide cannot be recommended in the initial treatment of small cell lung cancer.