Original Article


ADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY FOLLOWING RADICAL SURGERY FOR NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER:A RANDOMIZED STUDY

Guang-chuan Xu, Tie-hua Rong, Peng Lin

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after radical surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: Seventy patients with NSCLC (stage I-III) undergone radical surgery were randomized into two groups: 35 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide (CTX) 300 mg/m2, vincristine (VCR) 1.4% mg/m2, adriamycin (ADM) 50 mg/m2, Iomustine (CCNU) 50 mg/m2 dl, cisplatin (DDP) 20 mg/m2, dl-5, for 4 cycles, and followed by oral Ftorafur (FT-207) 600-900 mg/d for 1 year (adjuvant chemotherapy group). The other 35 patients received surgical treatment only (surgery group).
Results: The overall 5-year survival rate was 48.6% in the adjuvant chemotherapy group, and 31.4% in the surgery group, respectively. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The 5-year survival rate of patients in stage III was 44.0% and 20.8% received surgery with and without adjuvant chemotherapy, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.025). The 5-year survival rate of patients in stage I-II in the two groups was 60.0% and 54.5%, respectively (P>0.75).
Conclusion: Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC can improve survival, for those patients in stage III, it suggests significantly 5-year survival rate in the adjuvant chemotherapy group was higher than that in the surgery alone group.