Gemcitabine maintenance therapy after gemcitabine and platinum drug chemotherapy for naive stage IIIB/IV squamous cell lung cancer: a phase II study.

Platinum doublet is the standard chemotherapy regimen for unresectable nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without a driver mutation. However, for squamous cell lung cancer, the most effective cytotoxic regimen is not yet established. Combination therapy of gemcitabine with a platinum agent is a highly effective treatment among the platinum doublet regimens and is promising as a treatment for advanced squamous cell lung carcinoma. In this study, we prospectively evaluated the efficacy of gemcitabine + platinum combination therapy followed by maintenance gemcitabine monotherapy in untreated advanced squamous cell lung cancer. Patients with squamous cell lung cancer received four cycles of gemcitabine + platinum combination therapy every 3 or 4 weeks. After the induction therapy, gemcitabine maintenance therapy was administered every 3 or 4 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Of 18 patients enrolled, the median progression-free survival was 3.9 months. Only six patients received maintenance chemotherapy with gemcitabine. The median survival time of all enrolled patients was 18.1 months. Cytopenia of any grade occurred in at least 70% of the enrolled patients. However, severe adverse events were observed in only a few cases. Gemcitabine maintenance therapy after gemcitabine plus platinum agents is a suggested treatment for unresectable squamous cell lung cancer. While the overall toxicity profile of this therapy is acceptable, attention should be paid to bone marrow suppression.

Multicenter phase II study on cisplatin, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab followed by maintenance with pemetrexed and bevacizumab for patients with advanced or recurrent nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer: MAP study.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of induction chemotherapy with bevacizumab followed by maintenance chemotherapy with bevacizumab for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in this multicenter phase II study. METHODS: Chemotherapy-naïve patient with stage IIIB-IV or recurrent nonsquamous NSCLC were eligible. We planned approximately four cycles of induction cisplatin (75 mg/m2), pemetrexed (500 mg/m2), and bevacizumab (15 mg/kg) followed by maintenance with pemetrexed (500 mg/m2) and bevacizumab (15 mg/kg) until disease progression. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint. RESULTS: Forty patients received a median of four induction chemotherapy cycles. Of them, 35 (87.5%) patients received a median of nine maintenance chemotherapy cycles. The objective response was 70.6%, and the disease control rate was 97.1%. The median PFS was 10.8 (95% CI, 9.0-12.6), and overall survival was 48.0 (95% CI, 32.9-63.1) months. Median PFS of 23 patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and of 16 patients without EGFR mutations were 12.9 (95% CI, 9.4-16.3) and 7.9 (95% CI, 1.1-14.7) months, respectively. Toxicities graded ≥3 included neutropenia (15%), anemia (15%), hypertension (7.5%), anorexia (7.5%), fatigue (7.5%), thromboembolic events (5%), jaw osteonecrosis (5%), nausea (2.5%), oral mucositis (2.5%), tumor pain (2.5%), hyponatremia (2.5%), and gastrointestinal perforation (2.5%). Treatment-related deaths were not found. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with advanced or recurrent nonsquamous NSCLC, induction chemotherapy with cisplatin, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab followed by maintenance chemotherapy with pemetrexed and bevacizumab is safe and effective regardless of their EGFR mutation status. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trial Registry: UMIN000005569 . Registered date: May 8, 2011.

Pre-Existing Interstitial Lung Abnormalities Are Independent Risk Factors for Interstitial Lung Disease during Durvalumab Treatment after Chemoradiotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Introduction/Background: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by durvalumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, is the standard treatment for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a life-threatening toxicity caused by these treatments; however, risk factors for the ILD have not yet been established. Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) are computed tomography (CT) findings which manifest as minor interstitial shadows. We aimed to investigate whether ILAs could be risk factors for grade-two or higher ILD during durvalumab therapy. Patients and Methods: Patients with NSCLC who received durvalumab after CRT from July 2018 to June 2021 were retrospectively enrolled. We obtained patient characteristics, laboratory data, radiotherapeutic parameters, and chest CT findings before durvalumab therapy. Results: A total of 148 patients were enrolled. The prevalence of ILAs before durvalumab treatment was 37.8%. Among 148 patients, 63.5% developed ILD during durvalumab therapy. The proportion of patients with grade-two or higher ILD was 33.8%. The univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, high dose-volume histogram parameters, and the presence of ILAs were significant risk factors for grade-two or higher ILD. The multivariate analysis showed that ILAs were independent risk factors for grade-two or higher ILD (odds ratio, 3.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.69−7.72; p < 0.001). Conclusions: We showed that pre-existing ILAs are risk factors for ILD during durvalumab treatment after CRT. We should pay attention to the development of grade-two or higher ILD during durvalumab treatment in patients with ILAs.

[A case of germ-cell tumor of the mediastinum].

An 18-year-old man complaining of chest pain was admitted to our hospital. Contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) showed an anterior mediastinal tumor with patchy enhanced lesions in the peripheral and poorly-enhanced central areas. His serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level was high. FDG-PET imaging indicated intense FDG uptake in the mediastinal tumor (SUVmax was 11.2), but no other abnormal FDG uptake, including in his testes, was detected. CT-guided needle biopsy revealed necrotizing tissue, including immature cartilage-like tissue. Based on these clinical features, we diagnosed mixed-type germ cell tumor originating from the mediastinum. Bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin combination chemotherapy was administered every 3 weeks, for 4 cycles. His serum AFP level declined during the treatment course, and the mediastinal tumor decreased in size. After 4 cycles of chemotherapy, the residual tumor was resected completely and no viable cells were detected in the resected tumor. Tumor recurrence has not been detected for more than 9 months after surgery without adjuvant chemotherapy at the time of writing.

Primary advanced pulmonary synovial sarcoma treated with a multidisciplinary approach.

A 61-year-old woman was referred to our hospital due to right chest pain. A huge, 13-cm-diameter tumor was detected in the right lower lobe. For diagnostic and treatment purposes, pneumonectomy was performed, and the tumor was diagnosed as advanced pulmonary synovial sarcoma (SS) with pleural metastasis, according to immunohistochemistry analysis. Due to recurrence with brain metastases, treatment sequence composed of radiosurgery, doxorubicin, eribulin, and pazopanib was selected. The patient died after a considerably long survival of 29 months after the first visit. This case suggests that multimodal treatment may provide prolonged survival even for patients with advanced SS.

Alternate-day administration of S-1 for elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma: A prospective feasibility study.

S-1 is an oral fluoropyrimidine agent used for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although S-1 monotherapy has been reported to exhibit lesser hematotoxicity compared with other third-generation chemotherapeutics, digestive toxicity was also frequently observed. Alternate-day administration of S-1 has shown a lower rate of severe digestive toxicity than the daily standard administration in patients with NSCLC. However, the safety of alternate-day S-1 therapy in elderly patients aged 75 years or older has not been investigated. The present study was a multi-center and prospective feasibility study aimed to evaluate the safety of alternate-day S-1 therapy in elderly patients with NSCLC. The patients received S-1 orally twice daily for 4 days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) every week until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was safety, which was evaluated as the number of grade ≥3 adverse events, and the secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), 1-year survival, and disease control rate (DCR). A total of 10 patients were enrolled, but 2 patients failed to initiate the treatment protocol. Finally, 8 patients were treated with the study protocol regimen. No grade 3 or higher adverse events were observed. Four (50%) and 1 (12.5%) patient had grade 2 or lower digestive symptoms such as anorexia, diarrhea, or stomatitis and grade 1 lacrimation, respectively. Moreover, 2 (25%), 1 (12.5%), and 1 (12.5%) patients had grade 2 renal dysfunction, grade 2 ileus, and elevated blood bilirubin, respectively. The median PFS was 1.5 months (95% confidence interval: 0.9-1.8), and the 1-year survival rate was 42.9%. The DCR was 12.5%. In conclusion, alternate-day S-1 administration can be a safe treatment regimen for elderly patients with NSCLC, but its therapeutic efficacy and safety for elderly patients with NSCLC should be compared against the standard S-1 administration in a large-scale study.