Weekly Docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy in stage IV nonsmall cell lung cancer: effective treatment with low toxicity

Abstract

This study proposes to evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly docetaxel for first-line therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thirty-six patients with stage IV NSCLC were enrolled and treated with docetaxel 36 mg/m2 weekly for 6 weeks,followed by two resting weeks, in a total of 6 cycles. The cycles were repeated every 8 weeks. The tumor status was assessed by clinical and radiological examination. Neutropenia was the most common hematological toxicity observed (14% of patients). Overall response rate was 14% (5 partial responses), 9 (25%) patients had minor responses or stable disease lasting ≥17 weeks. Median time to progression and survival was 3.4 months and 7.0 months, respectively, and the 1-year survival was 32%. These data suggest that weekly docetaxel is a well-tolerated schedule with a compatible response rate when single agents were used in patients with advanced NSCLC, providing an additional option for patients who may have difficulty tolerating the standard every 3 weeks regimen, with acceptable toxicity.