A phase II study of daily carboplatin plus irradiation followed by durvalumab therapy for older adults (≥75 years) with unresectable III non-small-cell lung cancer and performance status of 2: NEJ039A.

BACKGROUND: Standard care for unresectable locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) involves chemoradiotherapy followed by durvalumab. The clinical significance of durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy in patients with LA-NSCLC having a performance status of 2 or aged ≥75 years, however, remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the clinical benefit of durvalumab after daily carboplatin plus thoracic concurrent radiotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective phase II study, daily low-dose carboplatin (30 mg/m2) was administered before radiotherapy for the first 20 fractions and concurrent radiotherapy (60 Gy) followed by durvalumab. The primary endpoint was 12 months progression-free survival (PFS) rate from durvalumab initiation. The secondary endpoints included rate of therapeutic completion, PFS, overall survival, objective response rate, and safety. RESULTS: Of 86 patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy with daily carboplatin from September 2019 to October 2021, 61 (70.9%) received durvalumab consolidation. The performance status was 0, 1, and 2 in 28 (45.9%), 26 (42.6%), and 7 (11.5%) patients, respectively. The rate of therapeutic completion for durvalumab was 26.2% (16/61). The PFS rate of 12 months after durvalumab initiation was 51.0%, indicating that the primary endpoint was achieved because the expected value of 35% calculated from previous studies was exceeded. The objective response rate after chemoradiotherapy and durvalumab was 47.0% and 57.4%, respectively. The median PFS and overall survival were 12.3 and 28.1 months, respectively. The most common adverse event in grades 3 or 4 was pneumonitis (8.2%). One patient died because of interstitial pneumonitis. CONCLUSIONS: Durvalumab consolidation after daily carboplatin with radiotherapy was effective and tolerable for LA-NSCLC vulnerable patients.

Gefitinib induction followed by chemoradiotherapy in EGFR-mutant, locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: LOGIK0902/OLCSG0905 phase II study.

BACKGROUND: The role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) induction coupled with standard concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is unclear in unresectable, stage III, EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Therefore, a phase II trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gefitinib induction followed by CRT in this disease setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with unresectable, EGFR-mutant, stage III NSCLC were administered gefitinib monotherapy (250 mg/day) for 8 weeks. Subsequently, patients without disease progression during induction therapy were administered cisplatin and docetaxel (40 mg/m2 each) on days 1, 8, 29, and 36 with concurrent radiotherapy at a total dose of 60 Gy. The primary endpoint was the 2-year overall survival (OS) rate, which was hypothesized to reach 85%, with a threshold of the lower limit of 60%. RESULTS: Twenty patients (median age: 66 years; male/female: 9/11; histology: 20 adenocarcinoma; stage IIIA/IIIB: 9/11; and exon 19/21: 10/10) were enrolled. The 2-year OS rate was 90% (90% confidence interval: 71.4% to 96.8%), indicating that this trial met the primary objective. The overall response rate and 1- and 2-year progression-free survival rates were 85.0%, 58.1%, and 36.9%, respectively. Grade ≥3 adverse events (>10%) included hepatic toxicity during the induction phase and neutropenia and febrile neutropenia in the CRT phase. Radiation pneumonitis grade ≥3 or treatment-related death did not occur. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first prospective study to demonstrate the favorable efficacy and safety of EGFR-TKI induction followed by standard CRT in EGFR-mutant, stage III NSCLC. Further confirmatory studies are needed.

Continued gefitinib treatment after disease stabilisation prolongs survival of Japanese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: Okayama Lung Cancer Study Group experience.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the survival outcome of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had obtained disease stabilisation with gefitinib treatment and to clarify the effect of continued treatment with gefitinib on prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records of 365 Japanese patients with NSCLC who received gefitinib (250 mg/day). RESULTS: Of 324 (89%) patients assessable for response, 147 (45%) obtained disease stabilisation and 71 (22%) patients achieved an objective response. Overall survival in patients obtaining disease stabilisation was significantly longer than in patients with progressive disease (median survival time 12.1 versus 4.4 months; P <0.0001). In patients obtaining disease stabilisation, those who continued gefitinib treatment until disease progression tended to have longer overall and progression-free survival compared with those discontinuing gefitinib treatment (1-year survival rate 52.1% versus 36.6%, P = 0.08; 1-year progression-free survival rate 31.8% versus 5.2%, P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed discontinuing gefitinib was an independent risk factor for progression-free survival (hazard ratio 1.66; 95% confidence interval 1.07-2.56; P = 0.022) but not for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the importance of achieving disease stabilisation with gefitinib treatment and continued gefitinib treatment in Japanese patients with disease stabilisation, although further studies are required to confirm these findings.

Phase I/II study of docetaxel and cisplatin with concurrent thoracic radiation therapy for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Recent studies have suggested the superiority of concomitant over sequential administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Docetaxel and cisplatin have demonstrated efficacy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study evaluated the safety, toxicity, and antitumour activity of docetaxel/cisplatin with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced NSCLC. Patients with locally advanced NSCLC (stage IIIA or IIIB), good performance status, age or=3 toxicities of 71, 60, 24, and 19%, respectively. Toxicity was significant, but manageable according to the dose and schedule modifications. Dose intensities of docetaxel and cisplatin were 86 and 87%, respectively. Radiotherapy was completed without a delay in 67% of 42 patients. The overall response rate was 79% (95% confidence interval (CI), 66-91%). The median survival time was 23.4+ months with an overall survival rate of 76% at 1 year and 54% at 2 years. In conclusion, chemotherapy with cisplatin plus docetaxel given on days 1, 8, 29, and 36 and concurrent thoracic radiotherapy is efficacious and tolerated in patients with locally advanced NSCLC and should be evaluated in a phase III study.

Intramedullary spinal cord recurrence after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation for limited-disease small cell lung cancer.

Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis is very rare in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), and develops in only 2% of neurological disorders associated with SCLC according to previous reports. We describe here a patient with SCLC who developed intramedullary spinal cord recurrence after high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) followed by autologous blood progenitor cell transplantation (ABPCT). A 59-year-old Japanese male was referred to us for diagnosis and treatment of an abnormal shadow on a chest radiograph. Based on transbronchial biopsy and staging procedures, he was diagnosed with limited-disease (LD)-SCLC. He received concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by late intensification with HDCT supported by ABPCT. He achieved complete response and was discharged after receiving prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI). However 6 months later, he noticed rapidly progressive weakness of the left lower extremity and bowel/bladder dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spinal cord disclosed an intramedullary tumor exhibiting an enhancement effect with Gd-DTPA at the 11-12th level of the thoracic vertebra. Immediately, radiotherapy to the spinal cord metastasis was given at a dose of 30 Gy, and his neurological disorders were completely resolved. At this time of reporting, he is doing well without recurrence. This case indicates that intramedullary spinal cord is one of the recurrence sites implicated after HDCT and PCI in LD-SCLC.

Detection of occult tumor cells in peripheral blood from patients with small cell lung cancer by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.

The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of tumor-specific or -associated genes is a sensitive assay for detecting a minimal number of tumor cells in peripheral blood (PB) or bone marrow (BM). In this study, we determined whether mRNA of bombesin receptors is detectable in PB or peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) samples from patients with small cell lung cancer. Among three bombesin-like peptide receptors, we used the neuromedin B receptor (NMB-R) gene as a target, because of the most frequent expression on SCLC cell lines. The lower limit of detection was one tumor cell in one million normal PB cells and there was no detection in normal PB or BM cells unlike a cytokeratin 19 gene. The NMB-R gene was detected in 14 (31.8%) of 44 PB samples from patients with SCLC at diagnosis and 2 (15.4%) of 13 samples of PBPC collected during a recovery phase after chemotherapy followed by administration of G-CSF (filgrastim). At diagnosis, patients whose PB was positive for the NMB-R gene had a significantly shorter survival than those who were negative. Our observation suggests that this assay may be useful in diagnosing metastatic disease and monitoring minimal residual disease in patients with SCLC.

Percutaneous balloon pericardiotomy by the use of Inoue balloon for the management of recurrent cardiac tamponade in a patient with lung cancer.

A 32-year-old man with lung cancer involving pericarditis carcinomatosa underwent pericardiotomy, using an Inoue balloon dilating catheter, to create a non-surgical pericardial window. The procedure was performed from the thoracic wall to the left pleural effusion and parietal pericardium under local anesthesia. The effects of non-surgical pericardial window had been maintained until this patient died from his primary disease. It is concluded that percutaneous balloon pericardiotomy is helpful in the management of massive pericardial effusions particularly in patients with malignancies and poor clinical condition

Double high-dose chemotherapy supported by autologous transplantation of peripheral blood stem cells for treatment of an elderly patient with small-cell lung cancer.

We report a 62-year-old male with extensive disease small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) who was successfully treated with double high-dose chemotherapy supported by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (auto-PBSCT). This patient achieved a partial response with 3 cycles of induction chemotherapy. After the peripheral blood stem cell mobilization, two cycles of high-dose ICE regimen (ifosfamide 3,000 mg/m2 at days 1 to 5, carboplatin 400 mg/m2 at days 1, 3, 5, and etoposide 500 mg/m2 at days 1, 3, 5) could be given with further regression of the tumor and acceptable toxicities. This successful case suggests the feasibility of double high-dose ICE with auto-PBSCT in elderly patients with SCLC.

High-dose ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide with autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation for small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the feasibility and efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy consisting of ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide (HD-ICE) facilitated by autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation (ABPCT) for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven patients aged 44 to 63 years old (5 with extensive disease [ED] and 6 with limited disease [LD]) were entered into this study. Induction chemotherapy consisted of 3 to 4 cycles of cisplatin and irinotecan for ED-SCLC, and cisplatin and etoposide for LD-SCLC. Patients with LD-SCLC received concurrent chest radiotherapy along with the first cycle of induction chemotherapy. After induction therapy, peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) were collected following G-CSF administration during a recovery phase from high-dose etoposide (1,500 mg/m2). Eight patients (4 with ED and 4 with LD) with adequate organ function were treated with HD-ICE (15 g/m2 ifosfamide, 1,200 mg/m2 carboplatin and 1,500 mg/m2 etoposide) followed by ABPCT. RESULTS: Hematologic recovery was rapid and non-hematological toxicities were acceptable without treatment-related mortality. In ED-SCLC, all of the 4 patients achieved complete response (CR) or near CR but developed a relapse of the disease. In LD-SCLC, 2 of 4 patients with LD-SCLC are alive in continuous CR for 18 and 21 months after the beginning of induction therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a limited number of patients and short follow-up time, these preliminary results indicate that marrow-ablative therapy (HD-ICE) supported by ABPCT is feasible in the treatment of elderly patients with LD- and ED-SCLC.

Synchronous primary lung cancer presenting with small cell carcinoma and non-small cell carcinoma: diagnosis and treatment.

Synchronous primary lung cancer (SPLC) occurs in up to 0.5% of patients with lung cancer. Among SPLC cases, coexistence of small cell carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell carcinoma has been reported in a very small fraction. Futhermore, there have been no reports discussing treatment and prognosis of SPLC presenting with SCLC and NSCLC. We report on two cases of SPLC presenting SCLC in limited stage and operable NSCLC. One patient developed synchronously SCLC and adenocarcinoma of the lung, while the other SCLC and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. The clonal origin of these synchronous lung cancers was evaluated using immunohistochemical and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analyses. Both of the patients were diagnosed based on transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) and mediastinoscopic biopsy. They were successfully treated with chemoradiotherapy and adjuvant surgery, and are now doing well without any signs of tumor progression for about one year. In both cases, a response of mediastinal lymph node for concurrent chemoradiotherapy was quite different from that of the mass in the lung field. In case 2, p53 mutation was observed in the SCLC tissue, but not in the NSCLC tissue by PCR-SSCP. In both cases, carcinoembryonic antigen was documented in the NSCLC tissue, but not in the SCLC tissue by immunohistochemical staining. This report indicates the importance of the accurate diagnosis of SPLC by employing TBLB and/or media-stinoscopy for the optimal treatment of patients having SPLC presenting with SCLC and NSCLC. Diagnostic criteria and standard treatment of this disease should be established.

Spontaneous biloma as a complication of small cell lung cancer.

Biloma is an extraductular collection of bile within a defined capsular space. Prior reports have documented an association between biloma and abdominal trauma, and between biloma and iatrogenic injury resulting from abdominal surgery, percutaneous catheter drainage, or transhepatic cholangiogram. To our knowledge, bilomas have not previously been associated with lung cancer. We report a case of spontaneous biloma that developed as a complication of small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer can express CD34 antigen.

In humans CD34 is a valid and reliable marker for hematopoletic stem and progenitor cells. In general, solid tumors, with the exception of endothelial cancers, do not express CD34. Accordingly, immunological selection of CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells can be used to remove CD34- malignant cells in the setting of autotransplantation. To rule out CD34 expression on tumor cells from small cell lung cancer (SCLC), eleven SCLC cell lines were analyzed by flow cytometry. Interestingly, two of these were positive for CD34 and their expression of full-length CD34 was further confirmed by reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This finding indicates that prior to subjecting SCLC patients to the above treatment modality, preparing CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from SCLC patients for autotransplantation, CD34 expression on their tumor cells should be screened using immunohistochemistry and/or flow cytometry.

The effects of a simplified method for cryopreservation and thawing procedures on peripheral blood stem cells.

A simplified method for cryopreservation at -80 degrees C of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) has been increasingly used for autologous PBSC transplantation in Japan. Although this method, using 6% hydroxyethyl starch (HES) and 5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a cryoprotectant without rate-controlled freezing, has several advantages over the conventional method using 10% DMSO with rate-controlled freezing, little is known about effects of long-term cryopreservation for years and thawing process on hematopoietic progenitors. We examined the recovery rates of BFU-E and CFU-GM in sample tubes cryopreserved by the simplified method under various conditions as follows: (1) long-term storage for 1-5 years; (2) DMSO exposure for 1 h after rapid thawing; and (3) thawing at a lower temperature other than 37 degrees C. In our study, we found that the recovery rates of BFU-E and CFU-GM were not affected by the length of cryopreservation period; they remained at more than 70% on average for 16-61 months. In our hands, a 1-h exposure to DMSO after rapid thawing was not toxic for hematopoietic progenitors. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the recovery rates of BFU-E and CFU-GM between thawing at 37 degrees C and 20 degrees C. These observations indicate that PBSC cryopreserved for at least 5 years by the simplified method can be used clinically without losing hematopoietic activity, and suggest that hematopoietic activity of the thawed PBSC may be unaffected when PBSC are infused slowly within 60 min or even when PBSC are thawed gradually at room temperature.

[Chemotherapy for small-cell lung cancer].

Here we review the current treatments for small-cell lung cancer. Cisplatin and etoposide, combined with concurrent or alternating thoracic irradiation, have been considered to be the standard therapy for patients with limited disease. Dose-intensive weekly chemotherapy and high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation have failed to increase survival in patients with extensive disease. Promising new drugs such as irinotecan and taxol may improve survival in patients with extensive disease.