Using immunoadjuvant cytokine and aldesleukin in biweekly gemcitabine and docetaxel therapy could increase response rates in non-small-cell lung cancer, Italian oncologists have reported.

Patients who had received other forms of first line therapy participated in this phase two study - with one group of patients receiving chemotherapy alone, and another group given chemotherapy plus cytokine therapy, DG Dispatch reports.

People in both treatment categories were given gemcitabine plus docetaxel once every 15 days, while those receiving the cytokine therapy were given GM-CSF on days two through to six of the treatment cycle.

Subcutaneous aldesleukin (recombinant interleukin-2) was also given twice daily on days six through to 29 of treatment cycles (chemotherapy was received on day 15).

Some 30.8 per cent of patients in the sole chemotherapy group showed a partial response, compared to 58.3 per cent of patients on chemotherapy plus cytokine therapy.

The immunoadjuvant cytokine used in the study was white blood cell-stimulating granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF).

Researchers reported the findings this week at the 19th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment (ICACT) by lead author Pierpaolo Correale from the Siena University School of Medicine.

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