Purpose: Pre-clinical and early-phase clinical studies have demonstrated that dexamethasone (DEX) administration prior to chemotherapy reduces toxicity and enhances efficacy in the treatment of cancer. We undertook a randomized, phase II multi-institutional trial to evaluate these effects in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.
Methods: Patients were treated with carboplatin on day 1 and gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 every 21 days, for up to 6 cycles.
Introduction: Cancer immunotherapy is a conceptually attractive since it is highly specific and can deal with disseminated disease with minimal impact on normal tissues. Early phase clinical trials have well established the ability of a variety of immunotherapeutic approaches to induce antigen specific immune responses in lung cancer patients. Although no immunotherapy is likely to be a panacea, recent data from randomized phase IIB studies offer promise of therapeutic activity in both early and late stage lung cancer.
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