Morikawa N et al. - In the current study, carboplatin + amrubicin (CA) was shown to be more effective than carboplatin + irinotecan (CI), with acceptable toxicity, in chemo-naïve extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) patients.

Methods
71 chemotherapy-naïve patients with ES-SCLC received 4–6 cycles of carboplatin [area under the curve (AUC) 5.0, day 1] plus irinotecan (70?mg/m2, days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks or carboplatin (AUC 4.0, day 1) plus amrubicin (35?mg/m2, days 1–3) every 3 weeks.

Results
The ORRs were 79% and 89% in the CI and CA arms, respectively.
The median PFS values were 5.1 and 6.2 months in the CI and CA arms, respectively (HR?=?0.59).
Grade 3 or higher toxicity severities were as follows: neutropenia (CI, 53% and CA, 89%); anemia (CI, 26% and CA, 20%); thrombocytopenia (CI, 18% and CA, 14%); and febrile neutropenia (CI, 12% and CA, 29%).