Exploring therapeutic decisions in elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer: results and conclusions from North Central Cancer Treatment Group Study N0222
Heidi Mc Kean, Philip J Stella, Shauna L Hillman, Kendrith M Rowland, Michael W Cannon, Robert J Behrens, Gerald G Gross, Mark D Sborov, Eliot L Friedman, Aminah Jatoi, Heidi Mc Kean, Philip J Stella, Shauna L Hillman, Kendrith M Rowland, Michael W Cannon, Robert J Behrens, Gerald G Gross, Mark D Sborov, Eliot L Friedman, Aminah Jatoi
Abstract
How do oncologists choose therapy for the elderly? Oncologists assigned patients aged 65 years or older with incurable non-small cell lung cancer to: (a) carboplatin (AUC = 2) + paclitaxel 50 mg/m(2) days 1, 8, 15 (28-day cycle × 4) followed by gefitinib; or (b) gefitinib 250 mg/day. With (a), 12 of 34 were progression-free at 6 months; median time to cancer progression was 3.9 months. With (b), the same occurred in 11 of 28 patients with the latter being 4.9 months. The most common reason for conventional chemotherapy was oncologists' opinion that the cancer was aggressive, and for gefitinib alone, patients' reluctance to receive chemotherapy. Interestingly, age had no influence.
Conflict of interest statement
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
This study was conducted as a collaborative trial of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group and Mayo Clinic and was supported in part by Public Health Service grants: CA-25224, CA-37404, CA-15083, CA-35195, CA-35431, CA-35101, CA-37417, CA-35267, CA-35448, CA-35103, CA-52352, CA-35113, and CA-35090. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institute of Health. This study was also supported by 5K24CA131099 to A.J. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
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Source: PubMed