Carboplatin and gemcitabine in stage IV non small cell lung cancer: beyond cisplatin in palliative chemotherapy

patients (18.9%), grade III anemia in 2 patients (5.4%), grade III nausea and vomiting in 2 patients (5.4%), and peripheral neuropathy in 5 patients (13.5%). A significant correlation was observed between overall haematological toxicity and number of courses of chemotherapy (R/0.56, P/0.0003, by using the Spearman’s non-parametric test), with an increase of grade III/IV neutropenia in patients undergoing more than 4 courses of chemotherapy (48.64% vs 2.7%, P/ 0.02, by using the Fisher’s exact test). These results are shown in detail in Table 1.