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Preliminary results of radiotherapy with or without weekly paclitaxel in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

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Abstract

Purpose.

In this study our objective was to evaluate the therapeutic significance of concurrent paclitaxel and radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone.

Patients and methods.

Patients with stage III A/B NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive either radiotherapy alone (group 2) or concurrent weekly paclitaxel with radiotherapy (group 1) in GMMA. Radiotherapy was given as a split-course schedule with the total dose of 56 Gy. Paclitaxel, 60 mg/m2, was administered only to group 1 on the first day of each radiotherapy week. To assess differences between values, P values were calculated with the χ2 test. A Mann Whitney U-test was used to assess significant differences between the two values. Actuarial survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results.

There were 25 patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy and 26 who underwent radiotherapy only. Median follow-up was  14 months. The overall response rate was 92% and 70% for groups 1 and 2, respectively (P= 0.003). Median survival was 15.2 months for group 1, and 12.0 months for group 2 (P= 0.027).

Conclusion.

Based on this response and the toxicity profile, outpatient split-course radiotherapy and weekly paclitaxel seems to be feasible and safe.

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Acknowledgments.

The authors would like to thank Lawrence Kleinberg M.D. (Johns Hopkins Oncology Center) for his editorial help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gülhane Military Medicine Academy Radiation Oncology Department, , GATA Loj. Ural apt. Daire. 39, Etlik, 06018, Ankara , Turkey

    Hakkı Cüneyt Ulutin & Yucel Pak

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  1. Hakkı Cüneyt Ulutin
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  2. Yucel Pak
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Correspondence to Hakkı Cüneyt Ulutin.

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Cüneyt Ulutin, H., Pak, Y. Preliminary results of radiotherapy with or without weekly paclitaxel in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 129, 52–56 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-002-0402-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-002-0402-x

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