Biweekly Schedule of Docetaxel and Cisplatin in Patients With Unresectable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

The rationale of phase II study of biweekly docetaxel and cisplatin in patients with unresectable NSCLC are follows:

First, the optimal dose and schedule of combination with docetaxel and cisplatin are still controversial (3 weekly versus weekly).

Platinum-based combination chemotherapy improves the survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the first-line setting.

Combination chemotherapy with docetaxel and cisplatin is one of the standard platinum-based regimens for treating NSCLC. However, usual standard 3 weekly regimen with docetaxel and cisplatin have consistently produced frequent Grade 3-4 neutropenia, and febrile neutropenia.

Although weekly docetaxel and cisplatin is better tolerated than chemotherapy every 3 weeks, especially in the first line setting in terms of myelosuppression, the optimal dose and schedule for administration of the two drugs has not yet been determined.

Both 3-weekly docetaxel plus cisplatin and weekly schedule showed similar response rates but had different toxicity profiles. The most frequent grade 3 or 4 toxicities were neutropenia in the 3 weekly schedule and fatigue or asthenia in the weekly schedule.

Second, docetaxel and cisplatin have different action and mechanism. Docetaxel showed characteristic early bone marrow suppression 5-7 days after infusion compared with usual 14 days after infusion of cisplatin. Thus, nadir period is not overlapped when the investigators administered both drugs concomittantly.

Third, there are many feasible reports of biweekly administration of docetaxel in patients with NSCLC, breast cancer, stomach cancer, and ovarian cancer with better safety profiles.

Therefore,the investigators designed this phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of biweekly schedule of docetaxel and cisplatin in patients with unresectable NSCLC and test the hypothesis that biweekly schedule of docetaxel and cisplatin is better tolerated than both standard 3 week and weekly schedule in terms of hematologic (neutropenia) and non-hematologic toxicities (asthenia, interstitial pneumonitis. Additionally the investigators will evaluate polymorphism associated with this study.