A Study Comparing Chemotherapy Dosing Based on Either Standard Body Surface Area or Lean Body Mass in Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer

Cancer patients are highly variable in their body composition, specifically in the proportion of fat and muscle. Some patients tend to gain fat and lose muscle (or lean body mass) at the same time. These patients can develop severe muscle wasting, termed sarcopenia. Patients with sarcopenia have more severe treatment related toxicity requiring delays, dose reductions and stopping of treatment, and have reduced survival. One potential explanation for this is that patients with sarcopenia have a reduced volume of lean body mass into which chemotherapy drugs are distributed, resulting in a higher concentration and greater toxicity. This study will randomize lung cancer patients to either the standard dosing strategy based on body surface area or experimental, personalized dosing based on lean body mass. Based on retrospective findings in this patient population, the investigators expect to find that severe toxicity will be reduced for sarcopenic patients on the personalized dosing arm based on lean body mass.