Comparison of docetaxel and vinca alkaloid, alone or in combination with other chemotherapy agents, in the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): A meta-analysis

7034 Background: Taxanes and vinca alkaloids are commonly used agents, in first-line therapy of advanced NSCLC. As some data in comparative studies have suggested possible differences in survival and safety, we performed a meta-analysis in order to assess the potential benefit of docetaxel-based regimens in comparison with vinca alkaloid-based regimens, in terms of overall survival (OS) and toxicity. Methods: MEDLINE, CANCERLIT and Cochrane Library searches were supplemented by information from clinical study reports and by manual searching of relevant meeting proceedings. Only randomized trials comparing docetaxel-based chemotherapy to vinorelbine- or vindesine-based chemotherapy were included. Outcomes recorded were OS and neutropenia. Fixed-effects and random-effects models were used to estimate the pooled hazard ratio (HR) of OS and the odds ratio (OR) of neutropenia. A HR or OR less than 1 indicates that docetaxel is superior to vinca alkaloids. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q-test. Results: The seven selected trials (six using vinorelbine as vinca alkaloid) yielded a total of 2,867 patients (docetaxel regimens: 1,638; vinca alkaloid regimens: 1,229). Docetaxel was combined with a platinum compound in three trials, with gemcitabine in two trials and used as monotherapy in two trials. The vinca alkaloid was combined with a platinum compound in six trials, and used alone (vinorelbine) in one. The pooled estimate of the OS shows a significant improvement in favor of docetaxel (HR=0.89, 95%CI [0.82;0.96], p=0.03), this benefit persisting after exclusion of the vindesine study (HR=0.90 [0.83;0.98]) and also after excluding monotherapy regimens (HR=0.89 [0.82;0.97]. While neutropenia was common, it was significantly less frequent with docetaxel (OR=0.60 [0.39;0.92], p=0.019), as was febrile neutropenia (OR=0.60 [0.39;0.96], p=0.034). Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis support the superior efficacy (OS) and safety (neutropenia and febrile neutropenia) of docetaxel in first-line therapy of advanced NSCLC as compared with vindesine or vinorelbine. Detailed results, as well as subgroup analyses, will be presented at the meeting. [Table: see text]