Paclitaxel, carboplatin, and extended-schedule oral etoposide for small-cell lung cancer.

We evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of combination paclitaxel (Taxol) (via 1-hour infusion), carboplatin (Paraplatin), and oral etoposide (VePesid) in the first-line treatment of patients with small-cell lung cancer. Between June 1993 and July 1996, 117 patients with small-cell lung cancer. were treated in two sequential phase II studies. The first 38 patients received a lower-dose regimen: paclitaxel 135 mg/m2, via 1-hour infusion; carboplatin dosed to an area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of 5.0, and oral etoposide 50 mg alternating with 100 mg on days 1 through 10. Based on a very favorable toxicity profile, the paclitaxel and carboplatin doses were increased in the subsequent cohort of 79 patients (paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 by 1-hour infusion; carboplatin target AUC increased to 6.0). Thoracic radiation therapy (1.8 Gy/day; total dose, 45 Gy) was administered concurrently with courses 3 and 4 of chemotherapy in patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer. The combination of paclitaxel 200 mg/m2, carboplatin to an AUC of 6.0, and extended-schedule oral etoposide 50 or 100 mg alternating days 1 through 10 is highly active and well tolerated in patients with small-cell lung cancer. The regimen can be administered concurrently with radiation therapy with no unusual side effects, although a minority of patients develop esophagitis. Median survival rates in patients with both extensive- and limited-stage disease compare favorably with other reported regimens.