Sequential administration of docetaxel followed by cisplatin-vindesine: a pilot study in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In this phase II study, the feasibility and efficacy of sequential chemotherapy were tested with agents shown to be active as monotherapy. Patients with chemotherapy-naive, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer were selected for the study. Treatment involved four cycles of docetaxel (100 mg/m(2) on day 1, every 3 weeks) (sequence A), followed by four cycles of cisplatin-vindesine (cisplatin 120 mg/m(2) on day 1 and vindesine 3 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, 15, and 22, every 4 weeks) (sequence B). Responding patients received 3 cycles of docetaxel 100 mg/m(2) (day 1, every 3 weeks) as consolidation (sequence C). Thirty-two patients entered the study with thirty being evaluable for efficacy. Four patients showed a partial response and one patient a complete response, resulting in an objective response rate of 16.7 %. The median survival time (intent-to-treat) was 11 months (95 %CI = 8.0-15.4 months) with an estimated 1-year survival rate of 47%. The median time to progression was 17.6 weeks in the evaluable population. Main grade 4 toxicity was neutropenia (21.8 % and 68.2 % of patients in sequence A and B, respectively) while grade 3 peripheral neuropathy was documented in five patients during sequence B. There were no treatment-related deaths. Sequential chemotherapy may show promise for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Given the feasibility of this pilot study, sequential chemotherapy concept should be investigated with newer cisplatin-based regimens using this approach in larger prospective studies.

Paraneoplastic acral vascular syndrome: epidemiologic features, clinical manifestations, and disease sequelae.

BACKGROUND: Acral vascular syndromes associated with malignancy have rarely been reported. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to assess the clinical and evolving features of paraneoplastic acral vascular syndromes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two cases of paraneoplastic gangrene are described and analyzed together with previously reported cases identified by a MEDLINE search. RESULTS: Among the 68 patients identified, 40 had gangrene, 16 had acrocyanosis, and 12 had Raynaud's phenomenon. The male to female ratio was 0.89; median age was 59 years. Fingers were affected in 94%. Adenocarcinomas were the predominant associated malignancies (41%), and metastases were observed in 41%. The acral vascular syndromes in 48% of the patients definitively regressed after tumor treatment. Forty-four percent of the patients died within 2 years. A favorable cutaneous outcome was obtained with prostacyclin infusions in 6 patients. CONCLUSION: A neoplastic origin of acral vascular syndrome should be considered in elderly patients, especially men, in the absence of usual causative conditions.