Seminars in radiation oncology
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Clinical Trial
Concurrent twice-weekly paclitaxel and thoracic irradiation for stage III non-small cell lung cancer.
Concurrent twice-weekly paclitaxel and thoracic radiation (XRT) for stage III non-small cell lung cancer were studied in a phase I trial. Radiation was delivered in fractions of 1.8 to 2.0 Gy/d to a total dose of 61 Gy. Paclitaxel, at a starting dose of 25 mg/m2/d, was administered intravenously over 1 hour before daily XRT on Mondays and Thursdays for 6 weeks for a total of 12 doses. ⋯ The overall median survival was 20 months and the 3-year survival rate was 20%. We conclude that the maximum tolerated dose of paclitaxel is 35 mg/m2 given twice weekly for 6 weeks concurrently with XRT. This study provides the basis for using paclitaxel, given twice weekly at 30 mg/m2, with weekly carboplatin and concurrent XRT for stage III non-small cell lung cancer in an ongoing phase II trial.