Initial Chemotherapeutic Doses and Survival in Patients with Limited Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Among patients with limited small-cell lung cancer, long-term survival does not exceed 15 percent 1 . The early emergence of chemoresistant tumor cells is the main cause of treatment failure. A possible strategy to improve survival is to administer higher initial drug doses. The usual doses, which have been evaluated in phase 2 trials, represent a compromise between the expected therapeutic effect and clinical tolerance of the associated toxicity. Although the effect of the drug dose on tumor response in patients with small-cell lung cancer is fairly well established, 2 the effect on survival is inconclusive 3 – 9 . Thoracic radiotherapy has generally . . .