Outcomes of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients treated with second-line chemotherapy (SL): A retrospective analysis of 166 patients

Abstract

e19093 Background: Patients with SCLC progressed after first-line chemotherapy (FL) have a poor prognosis and the evidence of a benefit of SL is still limited.This retrospective analysis evaluates the clinical outcomes of patients who received a SL treatment after failure of a FL for SCLC Methods: Retrospectively we reviewed 166 consecutive patients who failed a FL and received a second or third-line treatment, between 1993 and 2008 in 17 institutions. We divided patients for analysis in four subgroups, according to the type of SL administered: 1) Platinum-based (P) rechallenge 2) Non-platinum-based polichemotherapy 3) Non-topotecan monochemotherapy 4) topotecan monochemotherapy. Our endpoints were Overall survival (OS), Progression free survival (PFS) and Response Rate. Survival curves were designed with Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model was used for investigating factors which influence survival Results: Median age was 63 (range 25–86). Median OS from the SL was 6.2 months and PFS 2.9. 163 patients received a platinum based chemotherapy as FL, among them 67% obtained a response (CR=14%, PR=53.7%) and 19% had a progressive disease. 74% of patients had a PS 0–1 when started on SL. Moreover, 50 patients underwent also a third-line chemotherapy. Of the 23 CR at FL, 7 patients achieved a response in SL(30%), of the 85 PR only 19 (22%) and of the PD+SD only 6 (16%) (test for trend p=.03). No statistical differences among regimens groups were found; however, patients rechallenged with P went better then others when a long PFS in FL was demonstrated (p=.02) Conclusions: The clinical benefit of SL therapy for SCLC is poor and strictly dependent on response and on duration of response with FL treatment. Our retrospective analysis confirms that median OS for patients receiving SL is about 6 months and median PFS 2.9 months. A rechallenge with platinum should be the best options in patients with a long PFS in FL. Single agent topotecan, the most investigated agent in the literature, did not show evidence of superiority against other chemotherapy regimens No significant financial relationships to disclose.