Introduction: There are a large number of global clinical trials ongoing for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ethnic difference in toxicity has not been adequately studied.
Methods: We performed a systematic search in PubMed for randomized phase II and III trials of NSCLC from January 2000 to December 2009, examining ethnic difference in hematological toxicity due to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Ethnicity was classified into Asian and non-Asian. We chose three treatment regimens used for NSCLC globally: cisplatin plus gemcitabine (CG), cisplatin plus vinorelbine (CV), and carboplatin plus paclitaxel (CP). We applied sensitivity analysis to examine unreported ethnic differences in hematological toxicities by changing the percentage of Asian patients from 0 to 18% in trials reported from the United States and Europe.
Results: We identified 12 phase II trials and 38 phase III trials of NSCLC with a total of 11,271 patients. Among these, 14 trials had reported ethnic origins. Grade 3/4 toxicities were more frequently observed in the Asian studies. On the basis of sensitivity analysis, odds ratio of grade 3/4 neutropenia was significantly higher in Asian patients than non-Asian, when treated with CG (OR = 1.55-3.45, p < 0.001), CV (OR = 2.99-4.43, p < 0.001), and CP (OR = 4.79-6.22, p < 0.001). Grade 3/4 anemia was also significantly higher in Asians with CG (OR = 3.10-3.27, p < 0.001), CV (OR = 1.99-2.43, p < 0.001), and CP (OR = 1.34-1.52, p < 0.001-0.004). However, no significant difference was observed in thrombocytopenia with CG (OR = 0.66-2.04, p < 0.001-1.000), CV (OR = 0.42-0.57, p = 0.097-0.323), or CP (OR = 1.21-1.39, p = 0.114-0.152).
Conclusions: Severe hematological toxicity was frequently observed in Asian patients compared with non-Asian (mostly whites) in the treatment of chemotherapy for NSCLC.