Cited 3 times since 1997 (0.1 per year) source: EuropePMC Anti-cancer drugs, Volume 8, Issue 6, 1 1 1997, Pages 549-564 Dose intensification of chemotherapy and the role of granulocyte colony stimulating factor and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor in small cell lung cancer. Tjan-Heijnen VC, Postmus PE, Wagener DJ
The natural history of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by early dissemination. Despite the high responsiveness to chemotherapy, the disease remains ultimately fatal in the majority of patients. One of the strategies to improve final outcome is the administration of intensified chemotherapy, either by dose escalation or by chemotherapy given at shortened intervals. By now, in only one randomized study, in which cyclophosphamide and cisplatin dosage was escalated by 30% in the first course only, a survival advantage was demonstrated in limited disease patients. The different ways of achieving intensification of chemotherapy are highlighted. The addition of growth factors in current dose-escalated or accelerated schedules seems to result in a relative dose intensity of no more than 150% when compared to optimally delivered conventional regimens. Whether such a moderate degree of dose intensification will improve survival rates has to be awaited from phase III trials.
