WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The effect of adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy on survival in non-small-cell lung cancer may fade over time, according to research published online Nov. 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Rodrigo Arriagada, M.D., of the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Villejuif, France, and colleagues analyzed data from the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial on 1,867 patients with stage I to III disease who underwent resection and were randomized to cisplatin-based chemotherapy or observation. This study provides additional follow-up on previous findings.

With a median 7.5 years of follow-up, the researchers found a non-significant trend toward benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy on overall survival. In addition, the hazard ratios for death in the first five years and following years were significantly different (0.86 and 1.45, respectively).

"This analysis not only confirms a beneficial survival effect of adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy during the first five years of follow-up but interestingly shows a significant interaction between the treatment effects according to the duration of follow-up. It also emphasizes the necessity of identifying those subjects who get durable benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in resected non-small-cell lung cancer," the authors conclude.

Several co-authors reported financial relationships with Sanofi-Aventis and Pierre Fabre. The study was supported in part by Eli Lilly France.

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