A phase II study of nab-paclitaxel plus carboplatin in combination with thoracic radiation in patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

We investigated the efficacy and safety of albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX) and carboplatin (CBDCA) with concurrent radiotherapy for unresectable locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with Stage III NSCLC and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 were eligible. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy consisted of weekly administration of nab-PTX (40 mg/m²) plus CBDCA (area under the plasma concentration time curve (AUC) 2) and thoracic radiotherapy (60 Gy/30 fractions) for a total of 6 weeks. After concurrent chemoradiotherapy, patients received an additional two cycles of consolidation phase chemotherapy that consisted of 4-week cycles of nab-PTX (100 mg/m² on Days 1, 8 and 15)/CBDCA (AUC 5 mg/ml/min on Day 1). Response was evaluated in accordance with the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Progression-free survival and overall survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Toxicity was graded using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. A total of 10 patients were enrolled in this trial between September 2013 and January 2014 from three institutes. The overall response rate was 40.0% and the median progression-free survival was 6.7 months. Treatment-related death occurred in two patients. Grade 2 or worse severe radiation pneumonitis was observed in all three patients that had the volume of lung receiving at least 20 Gy (V20) >30%. The results of this study indicate that no further investigation is warranted into nab-PTX and CBDCA with concurrent thoracic radiation for Stage III NSCLC with V20 > 30% due to severe toxicity.