BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Researchers say taking two chemotherapy drugs -- one new and one old -- helps extend life for some patients suffering from lung cancer, the Tristate's most common cancer killer.
The study, led by Indiana University, reports that 39 percent of patients with advanced lung cancer survived at least one year after receiving both gemcitabine and cisplatin. That's a strong improvement over the 28 percent of patients who lived one year after receiving only cisplatin.
The study results were announced Monday in Los Angeles at an American Society of Clinical Oncology convention. The study involved 522 lung cancer patients treated at 39 medical centers worldwide.
Nationally, about 171,500 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, and more than 160,000 will die of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
Lung cancer is the Tristate's most serious cancer problem, striking about 1,400 residents a year. According to 1992 statistics -- the most recent county-by-county data available -- lung cancer rates exceed national averages in 11 counties: Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clinton, Adams, Brown, Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Gallatin and Bracken.
Historically, lung cancer patients have had low survival rates. About 14 percent live five years, compared to 62 percent for colorectal cancer, and 89 percent for prostate cancer. So far, lung cancer has been hard to catch in early stages and harder still to treat.
Cisplatin is commonly used to treat lung, ovarian, testicular and bladder cancers. Gemcitabine, made by Eli Lilly & Co., was introduced in 1996 to treat pancreatic cancer, another cancer with extremely low survival rates.
The new combination therapy is not a cure. Although better tolerated than many chemotherapy agents, gemcitabine can produce several side effects including a reduction in white blood cell counts, nausea and vomiting.
Still, the combination offers patients a better option, said Dr. Alan Sandler, an Indiana University cancer expert and principal investigator in the study.
"Our research shows there are better treatment options than ever before and patients owe it to themselves to explore those options with their doctors," Dr. Sandler said.
