Maintenance therapy with oral etoposide following first-line docetaxel-cisplatin chemotherapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients

The present study evaluated the efficacy and safety of maintenance therapy with oral etoposide following first-line docetaxel-cisplatin chemotherapy in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The overall response rate in the docetaxel-cisplatin phase was 30.4%, with complete response of 0, partial response of 28, stable disease of 39. Maintenance chemotherapy with oral etoposide was given in 67 patients. No complete response was observed, but 10 patients presented with partial response and 45 with stable disease . The median time to progression was 5.0 months; median overall survival time was 10 months and the 1-year survival rate was 41% during the maintenance therapy. Therapy with oral etoposide was well tolerated with the hematologic toxicities, fatigue and oral mucositis being the most frequent side effects. Docetaxel-cisplatin chemotherapy followed by maintenance therapy with oral etoposide was well tolerated and moderately active against metastatic metastatic non-small cell lung cancer