Partial Response in an RRx-001-Primed Patient with Refractory Small-Cell Lung Cancer after a Third Introduction of Platinum Doublets

• Main Authors: Corey A. Carter, Bryan Oronsky, Scott Caroen, Jan Scicinski, Aiste Degesys, Pedro Cabrales, Tony R. Reid, Christina Brzezniak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2016-05-01
• Series: Case Reports in Oncology
• Subjects: Partial response; RRx-001; Refractory small-cell lung cancer; Platinum doublets
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/446209
• ISSN: 1662-6575

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), initially exquisitely sensitive to first-line cisplatin/etoposide, invariably relapses and acquires a multidrug chemoresistant phenotype that generally renders retreatment with first-line therapy both futile and counterproductive. This report presents the case of a 77-year-old Caucasian male with extensive-stage refractory SCLC who was restarted on platinum doublets as part of a clinical trial called TRIPLE THREAT (NCT02489903) involving pretreatment with the epi-immunotherapeutic agent RRx-001, and who achieved a partial response after only 4 cycles. The patient had received a platinum drug twice before, in 2009 for a diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) and in 2015 for SCLC, suggesting that RRx-001 pretreatment may sensitize or resensitize refractory SCLC patients to first-line chemotherapy.