A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Phase III Trial Evaluating the Role of Adjuvant Celecoxib in Completely Resected, High-Risk (pN1-2) Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Patients

1. Rationale and objectives

To assess the influence of celecoxib on relapse-free survival in completely resected patients with poor prognosis indicated by metastatic involvement of intrapulmonary/hilar (pN1) or ipsilateral mediastinal (pN2) lymph nodes. Celecoxib, a selective oral COX-2 inhibitor, was found to exert significant anti-proliferative activity against a variety of tumor cell lines in vitro, including NSCLC. COX-2 is frequently up-regulated in NSCLC cell lines and archival tumor samples. Its high expression was also correlated with poor prognosis of the patients. Proposed mechanisms of action of selective COX-2 inhibitors include inhibition of angiogenesis, inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression and induction of apoptosis. A clinical trial addressing the role of celecoxib as adjuvant treatment in radically operated patients with high risk of relapse is warranted. 2. Study design

A multicenter, international, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled phase III clinical trial 3. Primary endpoint

The primary endpoint will be relapse-free survival (time to local or distant relapse) during the study. 4. Other endpoints

Secondary end-points will include:

• overall survival (time to death of any cause)
• the safety of the long-term administration of celecoxib

5. Statistical methods