1. ¹Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Kyushu Cancer Center, 3-1-1, Notame, Minami-ku, Fukuoka 811-1395, Japan
2. ²Division of Respiratory Diseases, Kumamoto Regional Medical Center, Kumamoto, Japan
3. ³Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shin Beppu Hospital, Oita, Japan
4. ⁴Department of Respiratory Medicine, Isahaya Insurance General Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan
5. ⁵Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kumamoto City Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan
6. ⁶Department of Respiratory Medicine, Yamaguchi Central Hospital, Yamaguchi, Japan
7. ⁷Department of Respiratory Medicine, Minamata General Medical Center, Kumamoto, Japan
8. ⁸Department of Respiratory Medicine, Asou Iizuka Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
9. ⁹Respiratory Organ and Diabetes Center, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan

Correspondence: Dr Y Ichinose, E-mail: yichinos@nk-cc.go.jp

Received 22 March 2005; Revised 10 August 2005; Accepted 10 August 2005; Published online 20 September 2005.

Abstract

A multi-institutional phase II trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of combination chemotherapy consisting of gemcitabine and UFT, which is composed of tegafur and uracil, for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Patients with advanced NSCLC received an oral administration of UFT (tegafur 200 mg m^-2) b.i.d. from days 1 to 14 and intravenous injection of gemcitabine 900 mg m^-2 on days 8 and 15. This treatment was repeated every 4 weeks. A total of 44 patients were enrolled into this trial. The median age of all patients was 74 years, with 23 patients younger than 75 years and 21 patients with 75 years of age or older. A total of 18 patients (41%) achieved a partial response. The median survival time was 13.2 months and the 1-year survival rate was 59%. The most common grade 3–4 toxicity was neutropenia (57%). The frequency of grade 3 nonhaematologic toxicities was less than 5%. In addition, no significant difference in the response, survival or toxicities was observed between the patients younger than and those older than 75 years of age. This combination chemotherapy demonstrated a promising effectiveness and acceptable toxicity in patients with advanced NSCLC, even in patients older than 75 years.