A phase 2 study of irinotecan, cisplatin, and simvastatin for untreated extensive-disease small cell lung cancer.

The article investigates the efficacy of simvastatin in combination with irinotecan and cisplatin in chemotherapy-naive patients with extensive-disease small-cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC). The results indicate that efficacy of the treatment is affected by smoking status. The study also showed that ever-smokers had a better response rate (RR), a longer progression-free survival (PFS), and had a trend toward an improved overall survival (OS) than those who never smoked.