Oral etoposide in small-cell lung cancer.

Etoposide can be administered orally. On the average, the bioavailability of etoposide administered in a soft gelatin capsule is approximately 50%. For both the oral and intravenous (IV) routes, there is a significant amount of inter- and intrapatient variability. In spite of the variability, clinical studies show that oral etoposide is clearly active in small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). In addition, combination chemotherapy studies using etoposide have yielded toxicity equivalent to IV administered programs such as CAV (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine). Oral etoposide has been used in several large combination chemotherapy studies safely and with clear efficacy.