Some Important Chemotherapy Options For Lung Cancer

Standard chemotherapy uses combinations of two or more drugs. Such multi-combinant drug therapy helps improve the response of the patient to treatment. Some of the drugs combinations used as potent chemotherapy options for lung cancer include paclitaxel plus carboplatin, cisplatin plus vinorelbine tartrate, cisplatin plus VP-16, and carboplatin plus VP-16.

For non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), various combinations drugs are used as chemotherapy options. One of these options is to use a combination of gemcitabine, cisplatin, and vinorelbine tartrate. Gemcitabine is a drug that is effective against a number of solid tumors. The above option is both safe and effective when NSCLC is in the advanced stage.

Surgery fails to remove tumors as they are not resectable. Without the above therapy, the patient may not survive even for a year. Side effects of the therapy include reduction in the number of granular white blood cells (neutropenia) and reduced number of blood clotting platelets (thrombocytopenia).

Another chemotherapy option used for patients with NSCLC in an advanced stage is, etoposide and cisplatin. This combination is used in tandem with chest radiation therapy as also surgery for lung removal (pneumonectomy) in cases in which the tumor is inoperable or alternatively surgery for tumor resection.

Side effects of the therapy include reduction in the number of white blood corpuscles (leucopenia) and vomiting.

It has been observed that normal cell protecting agents such as amifostine, and cancer cell killing agents (cytotoxins), whether used alone or in tandem with radiotherapy, are more effective against NSCLC as compared to chemotherapy. Often such agents enable doctors to use higher doses of chemotherapeutic drugs as it improves response time and aids in prediction of better prognosis.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC): In the limited stage of this disease, combination chemotherapy is used to advantage in patients with impaired lung function or poor performance and in whom adequate response is found. This is irrespective of the fact whether prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) can also be used in tandem therewith or not.

One of the chemotherapy drug combination options that is used in SCLC patients is etoposide and cisplatin. Another such option is etoposide, cisplatin, and vincristine sulfate. Both these alternative drug combination options can be used with or without PCI. The third such option is to use surgical resection of the tumor, followed by chest radiation therapy, with or without PCI.

Clinical trials have shown that alternative treatments in the form of biological agents may prove to be promising in SCLC. Such biological agents include immune system molecules such as monoclonal antibodies. The latter, whether used alone or with a toxin, may be effective, but major testing is still required to prove this.

In the extensive-stage of SCLC, a total of nine chemotherapy options can be used alternatively. Three of them are cyclophosphamide with doxorubicin and vincristine sulfate, cyclophosphamide with doxorubicin and etoposide, and cisplatin or carboplatin with etoposide.

Lung Cancer