[Retrospective analysis of albumin-bound paclitaxel in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the safety and short-term efficacy of sigle drug albumin-bound paclitaxel (ABP) in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS: A total of 23 elderly patients with advanced NSCLC who received weekly ABP regimen (130 mg/m(2)/week) in our hospital from October 2011 to March 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. The short-term efficacy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed.

RESULTS: The median treatment period was 4 cycles (2-10 cycles). Partial response, stable disease, progressive disease, overall response rate, and disease control rate were 26.1%, 43.5%, 30.4%, 26.1% and 69.6%, respectively. The median PFS was 5.33 months (95% CI: 2.95-7.70 months), while the median OS was 40.33 months (95% CI: 29.82-50.83 months). Major adverse events included leucopenia (82.6%), neutropenia (78.3%), nausea or vomiting (56.5%), fatigue (52.2%), peripheral neuropathy (26.1%), myalgia/arthralgia (30.4%), thrombocytopenia (13.0%) and arrhythmia (4.3%). The patients accompanied with chronic diseases had significantly higher incidence rate of peripheral neuropathy and myalgia/arthralgia compared with the patients without accompanied chronic diseases (50.0% vs. 9.1% and 66.7% vs. 9.1%, P<0.05 for both).

CONCLUSION: The weekly single drug ABP regimen is effective and well-tolerated in elderly patients with advanced NSCLC.