Phase II trial of pemetrexed continuation--maintenance after carboplatin-based induction in untreated non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
AIM
We conducted a phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed continuation-maintenance after carboplatin-based induction for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Thirty-four patients with advanced or recurrent non-squamous NSCLC received carboplatin (area under the concentration-time curve 6 mg/ml×min) plus pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2)) on day 1 tri-weekly. After four cycles of induction, patients without disease progression received pemetrexed maintenance until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.


RESULTS
Twenty-five patients completed induction and 22 received maintenance. The 1-year survival, objective response and disease control rates were 70.3%, 32.4% and 88.2%, respectively. The median progression-free survival and overall survival of all patients were 5.2 and 23.3 months. The incidental rates of grade 3 or more severe adverse events were low.


CONCLUSION
This regimen appears to be an appropriate option for chemonaïve patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC.
['Minami|Seigo|S|', 'Kijima|Takashi|T|', 'Komuta|Kiyoshi|K|', 'Kumagai|Toru|T|', 'Imamura|Fumio|F|', 'Yokota|Soichiro|S|', 'Takeuchi|Yoshiko|Y|', 'Nakatani|Takeshi|T|', 'Tachibana|Isao|I|', 'Kawase|Ichiro|I|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols D016190:Carboplatin D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung D018450:Disease Progression D005260:Female D005971:Glutamates D006147:Guanine D006801:Humans D008175:Lung Neoplasms D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D000068437:Pemetrexed D016019:Survival Analysis
phase II trial pemetrexed non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer Carboplatin