Combination chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel for advanced thymic cancer.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Thymic carcinoma is a rare cancer of the thymus, different from thymoma in respect of its malignant nature, and no standard chemotherapy for this cancer has been established yet.

METHODS:

We conducted a retrospective review of the efficacy of combination chemotherapy with carboplatin (an area under the curve of 6) and paclitaxel (200 mg/m(2)) in 16 patients with histologically or cytologically proven thymic carcinoma, Masaoka Stage IVa/IVb or post-operative recurrent disease.

RESULTS:

There were 13 males and 3 females, with a median (range) age of 56 (38-73) years. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common (n= 12), followed by undifferentiated carcinoma (n= 2) and others (n= 2). Four, nine and three patients had Stage IVa, IVb and post-operative recurrent disease, respectively. Two and four patients showed complete and partial responses, respectively, representing a response rate (95% confidence interval) of 37.5 (15.2-64.6)%. The median (95% confidence interval) progression-free and overall survivals in the 16 patients were 8.6 (1.8-15.3) and 49.4 (30.1-68.8) months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

Combination therapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel yielded an objective response in about one-third of the patients with advanced thymic carcinoma.

• Authors: Makoto Furugen, Ikuo Sekine, Koji Tsuta, Hidehito Horinouchi, Hiroshi Nokihara, Noboru Yamamoto, Kaoru Kubota, Tomohide Tamura
• Journal: Japanese journal of clinical oncology (Jpn J Clin Oncol) Vol. 41 Issue 8 Pg. 1013-6 (Aug 2011) ISSN: 1465-3621 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 21742653 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Carboplatin
• Paclitaxel

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (therapeutic use)
• Carboplatin (administration & dosage)
• Carcinoma (drug therapy, pathology)
• Disease-Free Survival
• Female
• Humans
• Kaplan-Meier Estimate
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Paclitaxel (administration & dosage)
• Retrospective Studies
• Therapeutics
• Thymus Neoplasms (drug therapy, pathology)