Bendamustine as Second-Line Therapy in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Small Cell Lung Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Histologically or cytologically confirmed small cell lung cancer
• •Relapsed or refractory disease after 1-2 prior chemotherapy regimens
• •Measurable disease
• •ECOG - Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2
• •ANC ≥ 1,500/mm³: ANC = Absolute neutrophil count
• •Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• •Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
• •Bilirubin normal
• •AST/ALT ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (≤ 5 times ULN in patients with hepatic metastases; AST/ALT = alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
• •Creatinine clearance \> 40 mL/min
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception before, during, and for ≥ 3 months after completion of study therapy
• •No known hypersensitivity to bendamustine
• •No other malignancy for which the patient has been treated within the past year except for nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• •No cardiac disease, including any of the following:
• •* Unstable angina pectoris
• •* Life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia
• •* Symptomatic congestive heart failure
• •No uncontrolled infection
• •No other concurrent chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or anti-tumor hormonal therapy