Comparison of efficacy and safety of three different chemotherapy regimens delivered with concomitant radiotherapy in inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients

Concomitant administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is currently recognized as the standard of treatment in locally advanced inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study aimed to compare the efficacy and toxicities of three different chemotherapy regimens delivered concurrently with radiotherapy. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients who received the PE (cisplatin, 50 mg/m 2 , on days 1, 8, 29, and 36 plus etoposide, 50 mg/m 2 , on days 1 to 5 and 29 to 33), PD (docetaxel, 20 mg/m 2 , on day 1 plus cisplatin, 20 mg/m 2 , on day 1, every week), and PC (carboplatin, AUC 2 plus paclitaxel, 45 mg/m 2 , on day 1, every week) regimens concurrently with radiotherapy. A total of 227 patients were evaluated in the study. Median follow-up time was 13 months (2–101). There were 27 females (11.9 %) and 200 males (88.1 %) with a median age of 61 (38–82) years. The PD group had higher rates of esophagitis, mucositis, and anemia ( p < 0.05). The PC group had higher rates of neuropathy ( p = 0.000). The progression-free survival (PFS) time was 10 months for patients in the PC group, 15 months for patients in the PD group, and 21 months for the PE group ( p = 0.010). Patients in the PC group had a median overall survival time of 23 months, those in the PD group 27 months, and those in the PE group 36 months ( p = 0.098). Combination of cisplatin-etoposide with radiotherapy led to a more favorable outcome compared with the other two regimens. It shows generally manageable toxicity profile and compliance to treatment is noticeable.