To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Vanderbilt Studies Show Improvement in Lung Cancer Survival URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/34A52.htm Doctor's Guide August 12, 1997
DUBLIN, IRELAND and NASHVILLE, TENN. -- August 12, 1997 -- Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) are at the forefront of pioneering new ways of treating and improving the survival and quality of life of patients with lung cancer. Results from various Vanderbilt clinical trials that have studied the combination of chemotherapy drugs with and without radiation therapy are providing new hope for patients fighting this deadly cancer. These findings were presented at the 8th World Conference on Lung Cancer meeting, Dublin, Ireland. More than 2,000 lung cancer experts gathered in Ireland this week to share cutting-edge lung cancer data from around the world. Overall, five-year survival for lung cancer has been stubbornly low -- 12 percent in 1973 and 13 percent in 1992. Results from the Vanderbilt studies reported at this meeting are showing survival rates of 40, 50 and 60 percent, sometimes at two and three years, which allows optimism that the five-year survival rates will also show improvement. Chemo-Radiation Therapy Dr. Hak Choy, associate professor of Radiology and Radiologic Sciences and clinical director, Center for Radiation Oncology, VUMC, reported results from a multi-centered study evaluating the combination of Taxol (paclitaxel), and carboplatin with radiation therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Survival rates were 61 percent at one year and 40 percent at two years, an improvement over the standard therapy, according to Dr. Choy. In patients with advanced NSCLC the historical median survival has been 9 to 12 months with a five-year survival rate of 5 percent. This study takes Dr. Choy's early work combining Taxol with radiation therapy -- which resulted in a two-year survival rate of 35 percent -- a step further by including carboplatin. According to Dr. Choy, the next step in this line of research will be to launch a randomized, multi-centered trial that compares different regimens of Taxol, carboplatin and radiation. Landmark Studies Research such as Dr. Choy's chemo-radiation studies are impossible without initial trials comparing Taxol combinations to the historical standard of care. David Johnson, M.D., Cornelius A. Craig Professor of Medicine and Director of Medical Oncology, VUMC, presented data from the large, phase III, randomized Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG 5592) trial comparing Taxol plus a platinum agent to the treatment standard, cisplatin/VP-16. Results from this 599-patient trial demonstrated that patients with advanced NSCLC receiving the Taxol/platinum combination experienced 25 to 30 percent survival increase compared to the standard regimen, which is statistically significant. "Lung cancer is extremely difficult to treat and any survival advantage, even the two or three months found in this study, is clinically meaningful to the patient," said Dr. Johnson. "Taxol is the most active agent we have seen for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, and we are just beginning to realize its full potential in combination therapy." A European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) randomized study of 332 advanced NSCLC patients showed a response rate of 48 percent for patients who received the Taxol/platinum drug combination, as compared to 28 percent for the standard teniposide/cisplatin combination. Median survival was more than nine months. An improved quality of life was reported in the Taxol arm of the study. Paradigm Shift Some 178,100 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 1997 and 160,400 will die from the disease. Lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as the number one cancer killer of American women, and the disease continues to increase in women. Similar trends have been observed in Western Europe where lung cancer affects an estimated 274,000 people. About 80 percent of all these cases are NSCLC. In recent years several drugs, including Taxol, have emerged as active against NSCLC. Many of these drugs are being extensively studied, especially in combination with platinum agents and concurrent radiation therapy. "Regardless of the outcome of ongoing trials, these collective data indicate that the therapeutic nihilism of the past is unwarranted," said Dr. Johnson. "Further, from the data being presented at this meeting it is clear that lung cancer patients have many more treatment options than in the past. For patients with advanced lung cancer these include combination chemotherapy alone or combination chemotherapy with radiation or surgery or both." Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the largest private employer in Nashville, is a major referral center for the Southeast and the nation. It comprises Vanderbilt University Hospital, The Vanderbilt Clinic, Vanderbilt Cancer Center, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, and Vanderbilt School of Nursing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. 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