Treatment of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Bronchus by Combined Chemotherapy—Clinicopathological Correlation with Response

Abstract

Thirty-seven consecutive patients, referred to a respiratory unit with a histological diagnosis of small cell carcinoma of the bronchus, were treated with a combined chemotherapy regime of adriamycin, vincristine and cyclophosphamide. Palliative radiotherapy was given for the control of symptoms. Thirty of 37 patients responded to treatment, 11/37 having a complete and 19/37 a partial response. The median survival of those patients with a complete response was 55 weeks, significantly higher (P<0.01) than either those with partial or no response to treatment. Those patients with limited disease survived longer. A high proportion of patients relapsed at the primary site of the tumour in the lungs.

The relationship between the therapeutic response and the histological subtype of small cell carcinoma suffered from the limitations of the available pathological material. However, more of the patients with a complete response were of the lymphocytic-like pattern of small cell carcinoma.

Useful survival in these patients with inoperable small cell carcinoma was achieved using this regime of chemotherapy, even in those patients with extensive disease, five of whom had survived for over one year.