Bendamustine With Irinotecan Followed by Etoposide/Carboplatin for Patients With Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, constitutes approximately 15% of the 170,000 new cases of
lung cancer diagnosed annually in the United States. Extensive-stage SCLC comprises two
thirds of new cases and is generally considered sensitive to chemotherapy, despite a median
time to progression of 4 months. SCLC is one of the most aggressive and lethal types of
cancer, with a median survival of 9 months (range 7-11 months) in patients diagnosed with
extensive disease. Overall, the majority of patients with SCLC die in less than 2 years
(2-year survival rates generally less than 10%), and the 5-year survival rate is 2.3% for
patients with extensive disease. The regimen of etoposide in combination with a platinum
(cisplatin or carboplatin) is generally considered the "standard of care" although a recent
Phase III trial suggests improved survival with the combination of cisplatin/irinotecan.
Further evaluation of new agents in combination regimens attempting to overcome the intrinsic
drug resistance seen in extensive-stage SCLC is warranted attempting to improve survival and
achieve palliation of disease-related symptoms.