Prognostic factors for response and survival of second-line chemotherapy in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC)

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18023 Background: Despite high response rates to initial chemotherapy, the majority of patients with SCLC experience tumor progression. Previous studies showed that both the response to initial chemotherapy and the response duration are important for predicting the efficacy of second-line chemotherapy. Therefore, relapsed SCLC is commonly classified into two groups: sensitive relapse (respond to initial chemotherapy and relapse more than 3 months after the completion of initial chemotherapy) and refractory relapse (not respond to initial chemotherapy or respond but relapse within 3 months). However, prognostic factors of the second-line chemotherapy have not been fully understood. Methods: From July 1992 to December 2003, four hundred and seventy-four patients with SCLC received chemotherapy as initial treatment, subsequently 229 patients received second-line chemotherapy (144 sensitive relapse and 85 refractory relapse) in our hospital. We analyzed the association of patients’ clinical factors with response and survival of second-line chemotherapy in sensitive relapsed patients and refractory relapsed patients, separately. For sensitive relapsed patients, analyzed clinical factors were as follows: age (<70/=70), gender (M/F), response to initial chemotherapy (CR/PR), PS at relapse (<2/=2) and the extent of disease at relapse (LD/ED). For refractory relapsed patients, analyzed clinical factors were as follows: age (<70/=70), gender (M/F), response to initial chemotherapy (responder/non-responder), PS at relapse (<2/=2) and the extent of disease at relapse (LD/ED). Results: Response to second-line chemotherapy was significantly correlated with PS in sensitive relapsed patients, however, no significant factor was detected in refractory relapsed patients. For survival, PS was the only significant prognostic factor in both sensitive and refractory relapsed patients. The median survival time was 328 days (PS<2) and 128 days (PS=2) in sensitive relapsed patients (p<0.0001), while 195 days (PS<2) and 113 days (PS=2) in refractory relapsed patients (p=0.0001), respectively. Conclusions: PS was the only significant prognostic factor for survival both in sensitive and refractory relapsed SCLC. No significant financial relationships to disclose.