Chemotherapy Plus Radiation Therapy With or Without Surgery in Treating Patients With Stage IIIA Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title: A Phase III Comparison Between Concurrent Chemotherapy Plus Radiotherapy and Concurrent Chemotherapy Plus Radiotherapy Followed by Surgical Resection for Stage IIIA (N2) Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known if chemotherapy plus radiation therapy is more effective with or without surgery for lung cancer.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combining cisplatin, etoposide, and radiation therapy with or without surgery in treating patients who have stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer.

Clinical Trial Description

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Compare the progression-free survival, median (2-year) survival, and long-term (5-year) survival in patients with newly diagnosed, stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer treated with radiotherapy concurrently with cisplatin and etoposide with or without surgical resection.

Secondary

• Compare the patterns of local and distant failure in patients treated with these regimens.

• Determine the relationship of tobacco use, alcohol use, and diet with toxicity of these regimens and outcome in both men and women.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified by contralateral mediastinal sampling or biopsy (yes vs no), tumor stage (T1 vs T2 vs T3), and performance status (70-80% vs 90-100%). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive induction with cisplatin IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 8 and etoposide IV over 1 hour on days 1-5. Treatment continues every 4 weeks for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Beginning within 24 hours of the first dose of chemotherapy, patients undergo induction radiotherapy 5 days a week for 5 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients without local progression or distant metastases at 2-4 weeks after completion of course 2 undergo resection approximately 3-5 weeks after completion of course 2. All visible, accessible bronchopulmonary, hilar, and mediastinal lymph nodes are excised. The choice of surgical procedure (thoracotomy, lobectomy, or pneumonectomy with en bloc resection of tumor extending into the parietal pleura, chest wall, pericardium, or diaphragm) is at the discretion of the surgeon. Patients who undergo resection receive 2 additional courses of chemotherapy alone beginning 4-6 weeks postoperatively. Patients with unresectable disease or who are medically unfit for or refuse resection receive 2 additional courses of chemotherapy alone beginning immediately after completion of course 2.

• Arm II: Patients undergo induction chemoradiotherapy as in arm I but do not undergo resection. Patients without local progression or distant metastases within 1 week before anticipated completion of induction radiotherapy receive 2 additional courses of chemotherapy beginning immediately after completion of course 2. Patients without local or distant progression after completion of course 4 undergo boost radiotherapy for 8 days.

Patients are followed every 2 months for 1 year, every 3 months for 2 years, and then every 6 months thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 510 patients will be accrued for this study within 4.9 years. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
• Lung Cancer
• Lung Neoplasms

• NCT number: NCT00002550
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: March 1994
• Completion date: November 2013