Docetaxel as monotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer in elderly patients. Clinical Oncology

摘要

To the Editor: The West Japan Thoracic Oncology Group(WJTOG) trial 9904 by Kudoh et alVegarding taxane monotherapy in the treatment of elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is very encouraging. The authors randomly assigned elderly patients age 70 years or older with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC to either docetaxel or vinorelbine monotherapy. Patients in the docetaxel arm had an improved progression-free survival rate (5.5 months v 3.1 months), response rate (22.7% v 9.9%), and improved disease-related symptoms when compared with patients on the vinorelbine arm.