Lung adenocarcinoma with multiple pulmonary metastases completely responsive to combination chemotherapy with carboplatin and weekly paclitaxel--a case report

We report a case in which lung adenocarcinoma with multiple pulmonary metastases was completely responsive to combination chemotherapy with carboplatin (CBDCA) and weekly paclitaxel (TXL). CBDCA AUC = 5 (day 1) and TXL 75 mg/m2 (day 1, 8, 15) were infused over 1 hour after short premedication on an outpatient basis. Administration was continued for 3 weeks followed by 1 week rest. The patient was a 54-year-old woman who suffered from lung adenocarcinoma with mediastinal lymph node metastases, stage III A, and underwent complete resection. However, multiple pulmonary metastases were found 3 years after operation. On an outpatient treatment, she was treated with CBDCA combined with weekly TXL for 6 cycles. The multiple pulmonary metastases had completely disappeared after 2 cycles and CEA decreased to within normal limit after 5 cycles. The toxic events were anemia (grade 2), leucocytopenia (grade 2) and alopecia (grade 3). No major adverse effects such as hypersensitivity reaction or peripheral neuropathy were observed.