Oral S-1 May Be Non-Inferior to Docetaxel for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Oral S-1 with cisplatin may not be inferior and could be better tolerated compared to docetaxel with cisplatin in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study conducted in a Japanese population and published in Annals of Oncology.

Researchers led by Kaoru Kubota, MD, of the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo examined 608 patients with previously untreated stage IIIB or IV NSCLC who were randomized to receive either oral S-1 with cisplatin or docetaxel with cisplatin.

“The primary aim was to compare overall survival of patients with advanced NSCLC between the two chemotherapy regimens,” the authors noted.

They found that overall survival for oral S-1 with cisplatin was non-inferior to docetaxel with cisplatin, although there were no differences in progression-free survival or response between the two groups.

In addition, there were significantly higher rates of febrile neutropenia, infection and alopecia in the docetaxel plus cisplatin group.

Quality of life data investigating by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer favored the S-1 plus cisplatin treatment.

Reference

1. Kubota, K., et al. “A Randomized Phase III Trial of Oral S-1 plus Cisplatin versus Docetaxel plus Cisplatin in Japanese Patients with Advanced Non-small-cell Lung cancer: TCOG0701 CATS TRIAL.” Annals of Oncology. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdv190. [epub ahead of print]. April 23, 2015.