For patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), concurrent delivery of once-daily chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy produced significantly higher 5-year survival in a phase 3 trial (Curran WJ Jr, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. September 8, 2011. Epub ahead of print).
Researchers randomized 610 patients with inoperable stage II or III NSCLC to 1 of 2 concurrent regimens (chemotherapy with once-daily or twice-daily radiotherapy) or to sequential treatment with these therapies. With a medium follow-up of 11 years, they found median survival times to be 14.6 months for sequential therapy, 17.0 months for once-daily concurrent therapy, and 15.6 months for twice-daily concurrent therapy. In addition, the 5-year survival rate was statistically significantly higher for patients treated with the concurrent once-daily therapy at 16%, compared with 10% for sequential treatment and 13% for twice-daily concurrent therapy.
The rate of grade 3 to 5 nonhematologic adverse effects was higher with the once-daily concurrent therapy.