Doublet Chemo Proves Superior to Single-agent Therapy in Older Patients with Advanced Non-small-cell Lung Cancer
Data from French trial should inform treatment decisions in the majority of lung cancer patients aged 70 and up.
ABSTRACT: Data from French trial should inform treatment decisions in the majority of lung cancer patients aged 70 and up.
"This is the first study entirely devoted to elderly patients showing the superiority of a carboplatin doublet over single-agent therapy." - ELISABETH QUOIX, MD
Single-agent therapy is the standard of care for older patients (70 and above) because of toxicity concerns, while younger patients generally receive more potent combination therapy. Data from the French Intergroup of Thoracic Oncology have indicated that older patients may also benefit from combination therapy, and the results could herald a new treatment paradigm for a graying patient population.
Did You Know? IFTC-0501 enrollment IFTC-0501 had initially planned to include 520 patients, but enrollment was stopped early because an interim analysis showed a significant improvement in median survival time for the patients in the combination therapy arm.
"This is the first study entirely devoted to elderly patients showing the superiority of a carboplatin doublet over single-agent therapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer," said lead investigator Elisabeth Quoix, MD, a professor of medicine at University Hospital in Strasbourg, France.
TABLE 1 IFCT-0501 trial treatment arms