Phase II trial of a 2-h infusion of gemcitabine plus carboplatin as first-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination of using gemcitabine as a rate infusion of 10 mg/m² per min with carboplatin in front-line chemonaive patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and methods: Fifty-four chemonaive patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC have been included, 44 males and 10 females, with a median age 63 years (range 19–75). Thirty-two (59%) patients had adenocarcinoma, 13 (24%) squamous cell, 1 (2%) large cell carcinoma and 8 (15%) others. Eight (15%) had stage IIIB and 46 (85%) stage IV. Treatment was consisted of 1,200 mg/m² gemcitabine given as a 2-h continuous infusion (10 mg/m² per min) on days 1 and 8 of each cycle an AUC 5 carboplatin as on day 1, repeating each cycle for every 21 days. A total of 223 chemotherapy cycles were administered, with a median of four cycles per patient (range 1–6), and 15 (28%) patients received all six cycles. Results: Of the 54 patients enrolled, all were evaluated for toxicity and 51 assessed for response. The overall response rate was 41% (95% confidence interval, 28–57%) with complete and partial responses of 4 and 37%, respectively. The median time to disease progression was 5.0 months (95% CI, 3.7–6.3 months), and median overall survival time was 11.5 months (95% CI, 9.9–13.1 months). One-year survival was 42%. The main grade 3–4 toxicity (according to the WHO scale) consisted of neutropenia (56%) and thrombocytopenia (57%). Patients were required platelet transfusion in 27 cycles (12%) and hematopoietic growth factors support care in 56 (25%) cycles. No bleeding episodes were recorded. Grade 3 nausea/vomiting occurred in 6% and grade 1–2 skin rash occurred in 43%. Conclusions: Prolonged gemcitabine infusion combined with carboplatin is manageable and tolerated, and its efficacy is similar to that of other chemotherapeutic schemes used for NSCLC treatment.