Phase III Study of Docetaxel Vs Vinorelbine in Elderly Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Inclusion criteria

Chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-naïve patients with histologically or cytologically diagnosis of stage IIIB or IV NSCLC and who were ≧ 70 years old with measurable or assessable disease were eligible for this trial. They had to have a life expectancy of at least 3 months. Additional entry criteria were as follows: (a) a performance status (PS) 0 to 2 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale; (b) adequate function of bone marrow (leukocyte count ≧ 4,000/μL, absolute neutrophil count ≧ 2,000/μL, hemoglobin concentration ≧ 9.5 g/dL, platelet count ≧ 100,000/μL), kidney (serum creatinine ≦ 1.2 mg/dL), liver (total bilirubin ≦ 1.5 times the institutional upper limits of normal, transaminase of AST and ALT ≦ 2.5 times the institutional upper limits of normal).

Exclusion criteria

Patients with symptomatic brain metastasis or apparent dementia were ineligible. Patients with active concomitant malignancy, massive pleural effusion or ascites, active infection, severe heart disease, grade 2 or higher ECG abnormality, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, ileus, pulmonary fibrosis, diarrhea, and a bleeding tendency were excluded.-