Biomedical subjects
David H Garfield
Publications and source records attributed to David H Garfield.
Significance of the papillary subtype in relation to durable response to gefitinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
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Modern treatment of lung cancer: case 2. Response to erlotinib after failure of gefitinib in a patient with advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma.
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Results of a phase II multicenter trial of weekly docetaxel and gemcitabine as first-line therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
PURPOSE: Standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) consists of platinum based combination chemotherapy but efficacy is limited and treatment can be toxic. This trial evaluated a weekly regimen of docetaxel and gemcitabine for advanced NSCLC. The primary endpoint was objective response rate. Other endpoints were 1-year survival, median survival, median duration of response, median disease-free progression, safety, and quality of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with advanced NSCLC were treated. Patients received docetaxel (1 per week, 36 mg/m(2)) weeks 1-6 and gemcitabine (1 per week, 900 mg/m(2)) weeks 1, 2, 4, and 5. Each 8-week cycle was repeated for a total of three cycles. Patients completed quality of life surveys (FACT-L) before each cycle. RESULTS: The median age was 68.5 years; 74% were >60 years old. In the intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis of response, 10 patients had a partial response (20%) and five patients had stable disease (10%). The 1-year survival was 32%; median survival for all patients was 6.9 months (range, <1-26.2) and the median progression-free survival was 5.1 months (range, <1-25.5). Toxicities (> grade 3) included neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, GI disorders (nausea, vomiting, dehydration, diarrhea, stomach pain), and asthenia; 10 patients experienced hematological toxicities that were > grade 3. Quality of life decreased during the study. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the nonplatinum doublet (docetaxel + gemcitabine) given on a weekly schedule for advanced NSCLC had efficacy similar to that reported with other regimens and was well tolerated. Therefore, this non-platinum based regimen appears promising and warrants further evaluation.
Treatment approaches in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and poor performance status.
It is estimated that 30% to 40% of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a poor performance status (PS)-defined as a score of 2 or higher on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale-because of their disease burden, comorbidities, or both. Survival is shorter in these patients than in those with a better PS, and they do not tolerate chemotherapy as well. There is now evidence that PS2 patients with advanced NSCLC can benefit from single-agent chemotherapy with drugs such as vinorelbine, gemcitabine, paclitaxel, pemetrexed, and docetaxel and that combination chemotherapy may have additional advantages. The optimal treatment for PS2 patients with NSCLC, however, has yet to be determined. The case histories in this article demonstrate that PS2 patients are a heterogeneous group and that selecting the chemotherapy for each patient must take into consideration comorbidities and disease-related symptoms, as well as the potential toxicity of treatment. Large prospective clinical trials are needed to determine whether, and in which patients, combination chemotherapy or novel agents, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors or paclitaxel poliglumex, have advantages. Three large phase III trials-Selective Targeting for Efficacy in Lung Cancer, Lower Adverse Reactions trials (STELLAR)-are now being conducted in PS2 patients with NSCLC. It is hoped that their findings will aid in determining the best treatment options for these patients.