Long-term Amrubicin Chemotherapy for Small-cell Lung Cancer

Higashiguchi M et al. – Long–term amrubicin chemotherapy is a safe and effective treatment that is associated with a good survival prognosis in properly selected patients.

Methods

• Twelve patients with SCLC who were treated with eight or more cycles of amrubicin chemotherapy were retrospectively reviewed.

Results

• The median number of cycles of amrubicin chemotherapy received by the patients was 12 (range=8-20), and the median cumulative dose of amrubicin was 2076mg (range=1200-2856mg).
• The median survival time of the study patients was 1104days (range=459-1997days).
• The main adverse events observed during amrubicin chemotherapy were leukopenia and neutropenia.
• The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR), expressed as the mean (standard deviation) of the values measured at the initiation and termination of amrubicin chemotherapy was 46.2 (4.0), and 46.1 (5.1), respectively.
• The change in CTR did not reach statistical significance (p=0.92).

[more...]