Low dose fractionated cisplatin plus gemcitabine for elderly patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer: a retrospective analysis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of gemcitabine-cisplatin in elderly patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study included 59 patients aged >70 years consecutively admitted to our Department. treatment consisted of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8, and low-dose fractionated cisplatin 20 mg/m(2) on days 1, 2, 3 of a 21-day cycle. Toxicity was graded according to the world Health Organization (WHO) criteria.A total of 281 cycles was administered. Hematological toxicities of grade 3 and 4 were seen in 17% and 5% of patients, respectively. Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity was 3%, grade 2 neuropathy was 2%. Twenty-nine partial responses with an objective response rate of 49% were obtained. No complete responses were observed. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 7.8 and 15.5 months respectively. Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy at low doses appears to be safe and active in older patients with advanced NSCLC.