Staging of small cell lung cancer: do we need a new staging system?

Amrubicin for the Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer: Does Effectiveness Cross the Pacific?

Amrubicin is a synthetic 9-aminoanthracycline that has significant antitumor activity in Japanese patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Clinical trials ongoing in the United States and Europe will determine whether amrubicin will be effective in other ethnic groups (whites) or whether this will be an example of geographic and/or genetic variation. Genetic polymorphisms in the UGT1A1 gene have been identified as one of the causes of the increased diarrhea seen in white patients treated with irinotecan when compared with Japanese patients. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced form-quinone oxidoreductase (NQ01) is an enzyme that participates in the metabolism of amrubicin and polymorphisms of the enzyme, known to occur in the Asian population, might explain the effectiveness of the drug in Japanese patients with small cell lung cancer. Studies to evaluate the drug in US and European patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer are ongoing. Levels of NQ01 will also be determined in these studies.

Phase II feasibility study of high dose epirubicin plus etoposide and cisplatin (HDEEC) regimen in small cell lung cancer

Seventeen patients with small cell lung cancer entered a phase II trial testing the feasibility of adding high dose epirubicin (100-120 mg/m2, day 1) in combination with etoposide (60-80 mg/m2, days 1-5) and cisplatin (70 mg/m2, day 1) courses repeated every three weeks. Complete responders received thoracic (40 Gy) and prophylactic cranial (30 Gy) irradiation. Sixteen patients were evaluable for response and toxicity. Myelosuppression was the dose-limiting side effect. Neutropenic fever was observed in eight patients (53%) and stomatitis in six (40%). No patient had a greater than 14% decline in the cardiac ejection fraction. Strict adherence to the dose-schedule designed was impossible as doses were trimmed and delayed in 30% of instances. The overall objective response rate was 81% (95% confidence limits, 62% to 100%), in limited disease there were complete remissions in 57%. With a 16 months median follow-up, overall median survival was 13 months. This study was unable to prove the feasibility of epirubicin escalation when added to etoposide-cisplatin combination, hampering the dose-intensification Norton-Simon model test.