Objective:To compare the therapeutic and adverse effects of chemotherapeutic regimen based on three drugs (taxol+carboplatin/cisplatin+etoposide) and two drugs (carboplatin/cisplatin+etoposide) on the combined small cell lung cancer (CSCLC). Methods:A retrospective study was conducted based on the data of 62 CSCLC patients who were admitted to and treated at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between July 2000 and April 2013. Of the 62 patients, 19 received the three-drug regi-men and 43 received the two-drug regimen. All patients received at least two cycles of chemotherapy and completed follow-up proce-dures. For each patient, the therapeutic efficacy was evaluated every two cycles, and toxicity was evaluated every cycle. Results:The response rates between the three-drug and two-drug groups were statistically significant (90%vs. 53%, P=0.033). However, no statisti-cal differences were observed in the disease control rate between the two groups (100% vs. 86%, P=0.212). The three-drug regimen could induce a better median progression-free survival compared with the two-drug regimen, but with no statistical significance (10.5%vs. 9.8%, P=0.484). Similarly, no statistical differences were noted in the median overall survival between the three-drug and two-drug groups (24.0%vs. 17.5%, P=0.457). The incidence rates of grade IV bone marrow depression and the termination of the original regi-men owing to severe adverse reactions were both significantly higher in the three-drug group than in the two-drug group (26.3% vs. 7.0%, P=0.036;31.6%vs. 14.7%, P=0.004). Conclusion:The two-drug regimen had almost the same survival rate and lower toxicity compared with the three-drug regimen. When using the TEP/TCE regimen, a close attention should be focused on its adverse reactions. The findings of this work showed that the two-agent regimen should be one of the standard treatments for CSCLC.

OBJECTIVEThis study was designed to investigate the correlation factors for occurrence and progression-free survival of patients with cavitating lung cancer.

METHODSWe collected the clinical data of 947 lung cancer patients. Tumor cavitation was observed in 51 patients at baseline and in 23 patients after treatment, while was not discovered in other 873 patients. Multifactor logistic regression was performed to analyze the correlation factors for occurrence. The independent predictors of PFS were analyzed with Cox proportional regression. Survival curves were constructed with the Kaplan-Meier product limit method and compared using the log-rank test.

RESULTSIn the 947 cases, the proportion of cases with baseline cavitation was 5.4% and the incidence of cavitation after treatment was 2.6%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the occurrence of baseline cavitation is related to age, history of diabetes, history of drinking, pathologic types, tumor location, tumor diameter and distant metastasis (P < 0.05). Multifactor logistic regression analysis revealed that the occurrence of post-therapeutic cavitation is related to sex, pathologic types and tumor diameter (P < 0.05).The median PFS of patients with baseline cavitation (7.3 months) was significantly longer than the cases without it (5.2 months) (P = 0.002). While there was no significant difference between the median PFS of patients with post-therapeutic cavitation and patients without it (5.1 months vs. 5.3 months, P = 0.060). Cox proportional regression analysis revealed that cyfra21-1 is related to PFS of patients with baseline cavitaion (P < 0.05) and smoking history is related to PFS of patients with post-therapeutic cavitaion (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSPatients with baseline and post-therapeutic cavitation present different clinical features and progression-free survivals. The PFS of patients with baseline cavitation is longer than that of the cases without it. On the contrary, PFS of patients with post-therapeutic cavitation is shorter than the patients without it.

Antigens, Neoplasm ; metabolism ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Keratin-19 ; metabolism ; Lung Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; therapy ; Regression Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Time Factors