1. ¹Division of Internal Medicine and Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
2. ²Department of Clinical Oncology, Osaka City General Hospital, Osaka, Japan
3. ³Division of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan
4. ⁴Department of Medical Oncology, Kinki University School of Medicine, Sayama, Japan
5. ⁵Department of Pulmonary Disease, National Hospital Organization Hokkaido Cancer Center, Sapporo, Japan
6. ⁶Department of Thoracic Diseases, Tochigi Prefectural Cancer Center, Utsunomiya, Japan
7. ⁷Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Prefectural Medical Center for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, Habikino, Japan

Correspondence: Dr I Sekine, Division of Internal Medicine and Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tsukiji 5-1-1, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan; E-mail: isekine@ncc.go.jp

Received 15 October 2007; Revised 2 January 2008; Accepted 9 January 2008; Published online 5 February 2008.

Abstract

Patients with previously untreated extensive-disease small-cell lung cancer were treated with irinotecan 60 mg m^-2 on days 1 and 8 and cisplatin 60 mg m^-2 on day 1 with (n=55) or without (n=54) etoposide 50 mg m^-2 on days 1–3 with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support repeated every 3 weeks for four cycles. The triplet regimen was too toxic to be considered for further studies.