Long‐term results of concurrent chemoradiotherapy using cisplatin and vinorelbine for stage <scp>III</scp> non‐small‐cell lung cancer

<jats:p>Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment for unresectable stage <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">III</jats:styled-content> non‐small cell lung cancer (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NSCLC</jats:styled-content>). The long‐term feasibility and efficacy of vinorelbine and cisplatin with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy were investigated. Eighteen patients received cisplatin (80 mg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>) on day 1 and vinorelbine (20 mg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> in level 1, and 25 mg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> in level 2) on days 1 and 8 every 4 weeks for four cycles in a phase I trial. Ninety‐three patients received the same chemotherapy regimen except for the fixed vinorelbine (20 mg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>) dosage and consolidation therapy with docetaxel (60 mg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>, every 3 weeks). The thoracic radiotherapy consisted of a single dose of 2 Gy once daily to a total dose of 60 Gy. A total of 111 patients were analyzed in the present study: male/female, 91/20; median age, 60 years; stage <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IIIA</jats:styled-content>/<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IIIB</jats:styled-content>, 50/61; and squamous/non‐squamous histology, 26/85. The 3‐, 5‐, and 7‐year overall survival rates (95% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CI</jats:styled-content>) were 43.2% (33.9–52.2), 25.2% (17.6–33.5), and 23.2% (15.8–31.4), respectively. The median progression‐free survival and median survival time (95% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CI</jats:styled-content>) were 13.5 (10.1–16.7) months and 30.0 (24.3–38.8) months, respectively. Four patients (4%) experienced Grade 5 pulmonary toxicities from 4.4 to 9.4 months after the start of treatment. In conclusion, approximately 15% of patients with unresectable stage <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">III NSCLC</jats:styled-content> could be cured with chemoradiotherapy without severe late toxicities after 10 months of follow‐up. Although based on the data from highly selected population participated in phase I and phase <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">II</jats:styled-content> trial, this analysis would strengthen and confirm the previous reports concerning concurrent chemoradiotherapy with third generation cytotoxic agents. (<jats:italic>Cancer Sci</jats:italic> 2013; 104: 93–97)</jats:p>