Gemzar® and Paraplatin® Equivalent to Platinol® and VePesid® for SCLC(12/4/2008) Researchers from the United Kingdom have reported that a regimen of Gemzar® (gemcitabine) and Paraplatin® (carboplatin) is as effective palliation as standard Platinol® (cisplatin) and VePesid® (etoposide) for patients with poor-risk small cell lung cancer (SCLC) but with less toxicity. The details of this study appeared in an early online publication in Thorax on September 11, 2008.
Pulmonary Scarring on Chest X-Ray Is Associated with Lung Cancer Incidence(12/1/2008) Researchers affiliated with the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial have reported that pulmonary scarring is associated with the development of ipsilateral lung cancer. The details of this study were reported in the November 24, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Non-Platinum Chemotherapy as Effective for SCLC(10/17/2008) Researchers affiliated with the Cochrane Library have reported that chemotherapy regimens that do not contain platinum agents (Platinol and Paraplatin) appear to be just as effective as regimens that do contain platinum agents in the treatment of small cell lung cancer. These results were recently published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Beta-carotene in Multivitamins Harmful for Smokers(6/27/2008) Researchers from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center have reported that high-dose beta-carotene increases the risk of lung cancer in current smokers but not in former smokers. The details of this study were published in the July 1 issue of Cancer.
VePesid®/Platinol® Remains Standard of Care for Small Cell Lung Cancer(6/6/2008) Researchers affiliated with the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) reported that Camptosar® (irinotecan) plus Platinol® (cisplatin) did not demonstrate a survival improvement compared with VePesid® (etoposide)/cisplatin in the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The SWOG researchers state that in North America, “etoposide remains the reference standard for treatment of SCLC.” These results were presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
