Effects of Gastrectomy on Pharmacokinetic Profiles and Side Effects of Oral Etoposide in Lung Cancer Patients

Nineteen patients with lung cancer were given a combination treatment of etoposide and carboplatin: the former was administered orally once a day at a dosage of 50 mg/body/day for 21 consecutive days, and the latter was administered intravenously over a period of 1 hour in doses ranging from 300 to 400 mg/m2 on day 1. In addition, a pharmacokinetic study of etoposide on day 1 and an assessment of any side effects were performed. These patients were all classified by the experience of gastrectomy. In patients with gastrectomies (n=5), etoposide had to be discontinued after 13-17 days, due to the fact that the side effects such as vomiting, and hematological toxicity in patien ts with gastrectomies were more pronounoed than that of nongastrectomy group (n=14). Forthermore, in patients with gastrectomies, the maximum serum concentration (Cmax) of etoposide was significantly higher (p< 0.05) namely about 1.6 times, and the area under the curve from zero to ∞(AUC0-∞) was also significantly greater (p