Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin in the treatment of non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma.

One hundred and forty-three patients with unresectable non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma were treated with combination chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (CAP). Objective responses were seen in 27.5% of 131 evaluable patients. Response rates for squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large cell anaplastic carcinoma were 30.2% (13 of 43 patients), 28.0% (14 of 50), and 32.1% (nine of 28), respectively. The median survival time for responders with extensive disease was 33.0 weeks compared with 29.3 weeks for patients with stable disease and only 9.6 weeks for patients with disease progression. The survival advantage of patients responding to CAP relative to those who had disease progression during treatment is highly significant statistically (P = 0.0005). However, patients whose disease remained stable also had longer survival than those who had disease progression (P = 0.001), and their survival was not significantly different from that of responders (P = 0.19). The CAP chemotherapy regimen was generally well-tolerated, although acute gastrointestinal symptoms were common. Our results indicate that CAP chemotherapy can cause tumor regression in patients with non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma and may extend the survival of responding patients.