Study of Weekly Paclitaxel, Carboplatin and Irinotecan to Treat Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cancer death in many countries of the world including Singapore. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) consists of 80-85% of lung cancers, and is a major health problem. The main etiology of lung cancer is well recognized and established to be cigarette smoking which accounts for up to 80% of the cases in the western countries. Due to success of anti-smoking campaign, we anticipate to see less smoking related lung cancer and more non-smoking related lung cancer which is rising rapidly. For eg, currently in Singapore, smoking only accounts for 50-60% of all lung cancers, this is particularly true in female patients, as smoking occured in 30-40% of female lung cancer patients only. It is unclear if there is any significant difference in the fundamental biology between smoking and non-smoking related lung cancers, particularly in areas of natural course of disease, genetic changes of tumor cells, clinical presentation, response to treatment or survival. These are potential aspects for further investigation.