Key Facts & Statistics

Causes & Risk Factors

Detection & Diagnosis

Prevalence of Lung Cancer

About 1 in 13 men will develop lung cancer

About 1 in 17 women will develop lung cancer

Lung cancer mainly occurs in the elderly. Nearly 70% of people diagnosed with lung cancer are older than 65; fewer than 3% of all cases are found in people under the age of 45

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men
and women

More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined

Small cell lung cancer occurs slightly more often in men than women and equally in blacks and whites

Survival

Despite the very serious prognosis of lung cancer, some people are cured, and there are currently 330,000 long-term survivors

Nearly 60% of people diagnosed with either type of lung cancer die within one year of their diagnosis

Nearly 75% die within 2 years. This has not improved in 10 years

The 5-year relative survival rate for lung cancer (NSCLC and SCLC combined) is 15%

For SCLC, it’s only about 6%

Important Safety Information

Contraindications

Hycamtin is contraindicated in patients who have a history of hypersensitivity reactions to topotecan or to any of its ingredients. Hycamtin should not be used in patients who are pregnant or breast-feeding, or those with severe bone marrow depression.

Warnings

Hycamtin should be used only in patients with adequate bone marrow reserves, including baseline neutrophil counts of at least 1,500 cells/mm³ and platelet counts of at least 100,000/mm³. Frequent monitoring of blood counts should be instituted during treatment with Hycamtin.

Patients should not be treated with subsequent courses of Hycamtin until neutrophils recover to >1,000 cells/mm³, platelets recover to >100,000 cells/mm³, and hemoglobin levels recover to 9.0 g/dL (with transfusion if necessary).

Hycamtin may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Women of childbearing potential should be advised to avoid becoming pregnant during therapy with Hycamtin.

Drug Interactions

Concomitant administration of G-CSF can prolong the duration of neutropenia, so if G-CSF is to be used, it should not be initiated until day 6 of the course of therapy, 24 hours after completion of treatment with Hycamtin.

Myelosuppression was more severe when Hycamtin was given in combination with cisplatin in phase I studies. In a reported study on concomitant administration of cisplatin 50 mg/m² and Hycamtin at a dose of 1.25 mg/m²/day x 5 days, 1 of 3 patients had severe neutropenia for 12 days, and a second patient died with neutropenic sepsis. There are no adequate data to define a safe and effective regimen for Hycamtin and cisplatin in combination.

Adverse Events

Frequently reported nonhematologic adverse events associated with use of Hycamtin included nausea (64%), vomiting (45%), diarrhea (32%), alopecia (49%), fatigue (29%), and dyspnea (22%). Most nonhematologic toxicities were grade 1 or 2.