A randomized trial to compare intravenous and oral etoposide in combination with cisplatin for the treatment of small cell lung cancer.
 In a randomized multi-center study, 83 patients with small cell lung cancer were randomly assigned to treatment with cisplatin 100 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) day 1 and etoposide 120 mg/m2 IV days 1, 2, and 3 or cisplatin 100 mg/m2 IV day 1 and etoposide 120 mg/m2 IV day 1 and 240 mg/m2 orally days 2 and 3.
 Both regimens were repeated every 4 weeks.
 Prior to randomization, patients were stratified by extent of disease, performance status, and gender.
 A total of 41 patients were randomly assigned to the parenteral treatment only regimen, and 42 patients received cisplatin and IV/oral etoposide therapy.
 Both treatment arms were comparable regarding patient characteristics.
 Limited disease (LD) patients constituted 52% and 49% of the patient population for the oral and IV etoposide regimens, respectively.
 The overall complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) rate was 50% (95% confidence interval [CI] 35% to 65%) for the oral etoposide regimen and 59% (95% CI 44% to 74%) for the IV etoposide regimen (P = 0.438).
 For both regimens, 55% of the LD patients achieved either CR or PR.
 Time to progression and survival were comparable for both treatment arms.
 Hematologic toxicity was comparable in both treatment arms, with 80% of patients experiencing grade 3 or 4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia.
 Moderate to severe anemia and weight loss were more predominant with the IV than with the oral regimen.
