Clinical study of Pemetrexed in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the multi-targeted antifolate pemetrexed in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods Eighteen patients with advanced NSCLC were enrol1ed into the study from January 2008 to January 2010,which were diagnosed by histology and/or cytology,and had failed in previous chemotherapy.Among them 10 were male,8 were female,the median age was 51 years(ranging from 32 to 68 years).The salvage chemotherapy strategy was single-agent pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 or pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 plus cisplatin 75 mg/m2(Pem Cis).Pemetrexed was given on day 1 and cisplatin was given on day1~3 every 3 weeks.The patients who received chemotherapy two or more cyc1es were evaluated.Results There was no case with complete response,only 2 cases showed partial response,12 cases had stable disease and 4 cases got progressive disease.The responsive rate was 11.1%(2/18),and the disease controlling rate was 77.8%(14/18).The median survival time was 9.2 months,and the median time for progressive disease was 2.8 months with 1-year survival rate of 31.2%,there were no treatment-related deaths.The common side-effects were Grade Ⅰ/Ⅲ gastrointestinal response and hematologic toxicities.Conclusion Advanced or metastatic NSCLC patients previously treated could benefit from pemetrexed chemotherapy with tolerable adverse events.