Comparison of therapeutic efficacy of different chemotherapeutic regimens on combined small cell lung cancer

response rates between the three-drug and two-drug groups were statistically significant (90% vs. 53%, P=0.033). However, no statistical differences were observed in the disease control rate between the two groups (100% vs. 86%, P=0.212). The three-drug regimen could induce a better median progression-free survival compared with the two-drug regimen, but with no statistical significance (10.5% vs. 9.8%, P=0.484). Similarly, no statistical differences were noted in the median overall survival between the three-drug and two-drug groups (24.0% vs. 17.5%, P=0.457). The incidence rates of grade IV bone marrow depression and the termination of the original regimen owing to severe adverse reactions were both significantly higher in the three-drug group than in the two-drug group (26.3% vs. 7.0%, P=0.036; 31.6% vs. 14.7%, P=0.004). Conclusion: The two-drug regimen had almost the same survival rate and lower toxicity compared with the three-drug regimen. When using the TEP/TCE regimen, a close attention should be focused on its adverse reactions. The findings of this work showed that the two-agent regimen should be one of the standard treatments for CSCLC.