Paclitaxel and Carboplatin Plus Megestrol Acetate in the
Treatment of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
SUMITRA THONGPRASERT,M.D.*, RATTlYA CHEEWAKRIANGKRAI, M.D.*,
JUNTIMA EUATHRONGCHIT, M.D.**, KANITTHA THAIKLA, M.B.A.***
Affiliation : * Divistion of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine,
** Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine,
***Research Institute for Health Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
AbstractThe present study evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of paclitaxel and carboplatin with
megestrol acetate for patients with stage Illb and IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Forty
patients with no prior chemotherapy and Kamofsky performance status of ;:::60'were enrolled in the
study. There were 18 males and 22 females with a median age of 57.5 years, and the median per
formance status was 70 per cent. Eleven cases were stage Illb and 29 cases were stage IV. Twenty
five cases were adenoCA, 12 were squamous cell, 2 were large cell and one was undifferentiated
NSCLC. These patients received paclitaxel 135 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion over 24 hours before
carboplatin was given at AUC=6 by 2 hours infusion. Megestrol acetate 160 mg/day was given
to all patients from day 2 to 14. This treatment produced partial remission in 12 of 39 evaluable
patients (30.76%). Toxicity caused mild nausea, vomiting, myalgia, neuropathy, 20.95 per cent grade
3 neutropenia and 4.15 per cent grade 4 neutropenia. Grade 3 thrombocytopenia was 5.4 per cent,
without grade 4. There were no statistically significant changes in weight, serum albumin, and quality
of life throughout the cycle 1-6.
Conclusion : The addition of megestrol acetate to chemotherapy benefitted these patients
by minimizing constitute symptoms throughout the treatment period especially in the quality of life,
weight loss and stabilized serum albumin.
Keywords : Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Paclitaxel, Carboplatin, Megestrol Acetate, Chemo
therapy of NSCLC
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