Search

In 1980, 27 patients with inoperable lung cancer (26 non-oat cell, one oat cell) were treated by split-course irradiation (40 Gy/10 fractions) plus concomitant low-dose chemotherapy (doxorubicin 10 mg/m2). Twenty-four of the 27 patients received the entire treatment course. Fifteen of the 27 patients were administered various chemotherapy protocols after a period of one month. Median survival was 16 weeks despite a 60% response rate. The lungs were the main site of complications (13 cases of radiation pneumonitis for the 24 patients), which occurred primarily when an objective response was obtained. These complications partially explain the poor results. Injection of doxorubicin during irradiation appears to have been a determining factor.

Determination of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) by radioimmunoassay was performed in per-endoscopic obtained bronchial secretion. Bronchial CEA values are higher in the case of primary carcinoma of the lung than of metastatic lung cancer or pulmonary benign disease (p less than 0.0005). More interesting is the ratio bronchial CEA/serum CEA which is much higher in primary carcinoma of the lung than in benign disease (p less than 0.0005) and lower in metastatic lung carcinoma than benign disease (p less than 0.0025). In primary carcinoma of the lung, the CEA determination seems to have a prognostic value since higher levels are reported in patients unsuccessfully treated than in treated patients with apparent remission.