Objectives: Cisplatin and vinorelbine given intravenously is a well-established adjuvant chemotherapy regimen after surgery for early-stage NSCLC. Vinorelbine can also be administered orally. However, the efficacy of orally administrated vinorelbine in adjuvant treatment of NSCLC is unknown. We assessed the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients treated with adjuvant i.v. vinorelbine or p.o. vinorelbine, in combination with i.v. cisplatin.
Materials and methods: We reviewed two time-separated cohorts of patients referred to the Department of Oncology at Aarhus University Hospital (Denmark) from 2005 to 2012 for adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for NSCLC.
Results and conclusion: Of the 265 patients included in this study, 126 patients received i.v. and 139 received p.o. vinorelbine/cisplatin. The two groups were comparable with respect to important baseline characteristics. Median OS for all patients was 78.7 months and the median DFS was 35.7 months. No statistically significant difference in OS or DFS for patients treated with i.v. or oral vinorelbine was detected. The DFS rates of the two groups were comparable across all variables in subgroup analysis. In conclusion we observed that intravenous or oral administration of vinorelbine in combination with cisplatin after surgery for NSCLC appear equally effective in terms of overall and disease-free survival.
Keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Cisplatin; Early-stage; Intravenous vinorelbine; Non-small cell lung cancer; Oral vinorelbine.
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