A RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF 5 CISPLATIN-CONTAINING TREATMENTS IN PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG-CANCER - A SOUTHWEST-ONCOLOGY-GROUP-STUDY

Six hundred eighty assessable patients with measurable stage III M1 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were randomized to one of five treatment arms including cisplatin, etoposide (VP-16) ± methylglyoxal bis-guanylhydrazone (MGBG; PVp, PVpM); cisplatin, vinblastine (PVe); or PVe alternating with vinblastine, mitomycin (PVeMi); or fluorouracil, vincristine, mitomycin/cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, cisplatin (FOMi/CAP). The overall response rate was 20% with 3% complete responses and 17% partial remissions. The duration of these responses was not statistically different by treatment regimen and varied from 2.7 months to 5.0 months. The overall median survival for all patients was 5.3 months and is not different by treatment. Toxicity was greater in PVpM. The similarity of results for response, duration of response, and survival does not establish the superiority of any of these platinum-based regimens for standard clinical usage. © 1991 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.