Feasibility study of chemoradiotherapy followed by amrubicin and cisplatin for limited‐disease small cell lung cancer

To evaluate the feasibility of amrubicin plus cisplatin (AP) following chemoradiotherapy for limited‐disease small‐cell lung cancer, chemo‐naïve patients aged 20–70 years with a performance status of 0 or 1 and normal organ functions were treated with etoposide 100 mg/m(2) on days 1–3, cisplatin 80 mg/m(2) on day 1 and concurrent thoracic radiotherapy at 45 Gy/30 fractions (EP‐TRT), followed by three cycles of amrubicin 40 mg/m(2) on days 1–3 and cisplatin 60 mg/m(2) on day 1 every 3 weeks. The EP‐TRT could be completed in 21 patients (15 male and 6 female patients with a median age of 62 years). Of these, 2, 1 and 18 (86%) patients received one, two and three cycles of AP, respectively. Sixteen (76%) patients required granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) support. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in all patients. Grade 3 febrile neutropenia was observed in 9 patients, lasting for 1 day in 5 patients. The incidences of grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia and anemia were 43 and 24%, respectively. Grade 3 infection and anorexia occurred in 2 and 3 patients, respectively. The response rate was 95%. The median (95% confidence interval [CI]) progression‐free survival (PFS) was 41.9 (0–102) months, and the 5‐year PFS rate (CI) was 41.9% (20.4–63.4%). The median overall survival (OS) has not been reached yet, and the 5‐year OS rate (CI) was 57.8% (35.2–80.4%). In conclusion, EP‐TRT followed by AP therapy was well‐tolerated, although a large number of patients required G‐CSF support.