Title

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

    Phase 3
  • Study Type

    Interventional
  • Status

    Completed No Results Posted
  • Intervention/Treatment

    cisplatin etoposide ...
  • Study Participants

    429
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.
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 Started
Mar 31
1994
Primary Completion
Jun 30
2004
Study Completion
Nov 30
2013
Last Update
Nov 17
2015
Estimate

Drug cisplatin

Drug etoposide

Procedure conventional surgery

Radiation radiation therapy

RT + chemotherapy followed by surgery + chemotherapy Experimental

Induction radiation therapy (RT) + concurrent induction chemotherapy followed by surgery and additional chemotherapy

RT + chemotherapy followed by chemotherapy + RT Active Comparator

Induction RT + concurrent induction chemotherapy followed by additional chemotherapy + RT

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically or cytologically proven newly diagnosed, stage IIIA (T1-3, N2) non-small cell lung cancer

Eligible subtypes:

Adenocarcinoma
Large cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Nonlobar and nondiffuse bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma

Measurable or evaluable disease on chest x-ray and/or contrast CT scan

Contrast thoracic CT required to complete staging
Single primary bronchogenic tumor (no more than 1 parenchymal lung lesion)

Pleural effusions allowed if 1 of the following conditions is met:

Negative cytology on thoracentesis if effusions present before mediastinoscopy or exploratory thoracotomy
Effusion seen on CT scan but not on chest x-ray and deemed too small to tap under CT or ultrasound guidance

Positive ipsilateral mediastinal node(s) with or without positive ipsilateral hilar nodes

Mediastinal nodes separate from primary lesion on CT scan or surgical exploration
Histologic or cytologic proof of N2 disease by thoracotomy, mediastinoscopy, mediastinotomy, Chamberlain procedure, Wang needle, or fine needle aspiration under bronchoscopic or CT guidance

Nodal biopsy or aspiration waived if all of the following conditions are met:

Paralyzed left true vocal cord documented by bronchoscopy or indirect laryngoscopy
Nodes visible in Level 5 region on CT scan
Distinct primary lesion separate from nodes on CT scan
All mediastinal nodal involvement mapped (positive or negative)

No positive nodes in contralateral mediastinum (supraclavicular areas and higher) and neck

Mediastinoscopy, mediastinotomy, Chamberlain procedure, or thoracotomy required for nodes larger than 1 cm on contrast CT scan
Surgery waived if nodes negative or no larger than 1 cm on CT scan
Lymphadenopathy allowed if biopsy proof of a benign cause
No metastases by contrast CT or MRI scan of the brain, bone scan, CT scan of the lungs to exclude other ipsilateral or contralateral parenchymal lesions, and contrast CT scan of the upper abdomen including entire liver and adrenals
No hepatomegaly or splenomegaly by physical examination or CT scan unless documentation of a benign cause
No pericardial effusion
No superior vena cava syndrome
No prior diagnosis of lung cancer

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

18 and over

Performance status:

Karnofsky 90-100% (70-80% allowed if albumin at least 0.85 times lower limit of normal and weight loss no greater than 10% within 3 months before diagnosis)

Hematopoietic:

White blood cell count (WBC) at least 4,000/mm^3 OR
Granulocyte count at least 2,000/mm^3
Platelet count normal
Hemoglobin at least 10.0 g/dL (less than 8.5 g/dL allowed if no marrow involvement with tumor)

Hepatic:

See Performance status
Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)*
Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) no greater than 1.5 times ULN* NOTE: * Unless documentation of a benign cause

Renal:

Creatinine clearance at least 50 mL/min

Cardiovascular:

No myocardial infarction within the past 3 months
No active angina
No unstable arrhythmia
No congestive heart failure

Pulmonary:

Forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1) at least 2.0 liters OR
Predicted postresection FEV1 at least 800 mL based on quantitative V/Q scan
Diffusion capacity of lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) at least 50% predicted (corrected for hemoglobin) if pneumonectomy planned or likely after induction chemotherapy

Other:

No clinically significant hearing loss unless willing to accept the potential of further loss
No symptomatic peripheral neuropathy
No peptic ulcer disease under active treatment
No other medical illness not controllable by appropriate medical therapy
No other malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or ductal or lobular carcinoma in situ of the breast
Not pregnant or nursing
Negative pregnancy test
Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

No concurrent colony-stimulating factors

Chemotherapy:

No prior chemotherapy for lung cancer
No concurrent chemotherapy for another condition (such as arthritis)

Endocrine therapy:

Not specified

Radiotherapy:

No prior radiotherapy for lung cancer

Surgery:

See Disease Characteristics
No prior resection of primary tumor
No Results Posted