Teniposide (VM‐26) as a single drug treatment for patients with extensive small cell lung carcinoma

• Published in: Cancer Vol. 80; no. 6; pp. 1029 - 1033
• Main Authors: Grozea, Petre N., Crowley, John J., Canfield, Vikki A., Kingsbury, Laura, Ross, S. William, Beltran, German S., Laufman, Leslie Rodgers, Weiss, Geoffrey R., Livingston, Robert B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 15.09.1997
• Subjects: cooperative group; extensive small cell lung carcinoma; Lung; Phase II study; teniposide
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19970915)80:6<1029::AID-CNCR4>3.0.CO;2-4

BACKGROUND Teniposide (VM‐26) was reported to have activity in small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). The authors performed a Phase II study of teniposide as a treatment for patients with previously untreated extensive SCLC. METHODS The study was open to patients with a histologic or cytologic diagnosis of extensive SCLC who had not received prior radiation or chemotherapy. Patients with hematologic values below normal were considered eligible if the impaired bone marrow function was directly attributable to disease involvement. Treatment consisted of teniposide 60 mg/m2 given intravenously (i.v.) on Days 1‐5 every 3 weeks. RESULTS This study opened on September 15, 1988, closed permanently on November 15, 1990, and accrued 45 patients identified at 19 academic, military, and Community Clinical Oncology Program institutions affiliated with the Southwest Oncology Group. Of the 45 registered patients, 41 were eligible. Twenty eight (68%) were males and 13 (32%) were females; the median age was 64 years (minimum, 46 years; maximum, 83 years). Twenty‐four patients (59%) had a performance status (PS) on the Zubrod scale of 0‐1 and 17 cases (41%) had a PS of 2. Of the 41 eligible patients, 10 had confirmed partial responses (24%) (95% confidence interval, 12‐40%). The median survival was 7 months. The significant toxicities noted were Grade 4 leukopenia and/or granulocytopenia, experienced by 15 patients; 1 of these patients also had Grade 4 hyponatremia. One patient died of a respiratory infection. CONCLUSIONS When administered according to the dosage and schedule selected for this study (60 mg/m2 i.v. on Days 1‐5 every 3 weeks), teniposide as a single agent had modest activity in extensive small cell lung carcinoma. The toxicities observed in this study were acceptable. Cancer 1997; 80:1029‐33. © 1997 American Cancer Society. Teniposide (VM‐26) has limited activity as a single agent in previously untreated extensive small cell lung carcinoma.