Observation of uses of pemetrexed in treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Objective: To determine the efficacy and toxicity of pemetrexed in patients with advanced recurrent or progressive non-small cell lung cancer(Nsclc).Methods: From November 2006 to August 2007,30 patients were enrolled into this study.Among these patients,21 were male and 9 were female.The median age was 51 years(ranging from 36-71 years).All these patients had been confirmed with pathology or cytology and had failed in previous chemotherapy.PS scale was 0-2.Chemotherapy strategy: Single-agent pemetrexed 500mg/m2 or pemetrexed 500mg/m2 plus cisplatin 75mg/m2(PemCis).Pemetrexed was given on day 1 and cisplatin was given on day 2 every 3 weeks.The patient who received two or more cycles was evaluated.Results: 27 patients were evaluated.There was no case with complete response.Only 1 case got partial response,16 cases got stable disease and 10 cases got progressive disease.The responsive rate was 3.7%(1/27) and the disease controlling rate was 62.9%(17/27).The median survival time was 8 months,and the median time for progressive disease was 2.8 months with a 1-year survival rate of 31.2%.The common side effects were Grade I/II gastrointestinal response and hematologic toxicities including nausea,neutropenia and anemia.Conclusion: Pemetrexed had activity and appeared to be well-tolerated in advanced NSCLC.