Background/purpose: The efficacy and safety of chemotherapy as third- or higher-line therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed for heavily pretreated, advanced NSCLC.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed advanced NSCLC patients who received pemetrexed and more than two prior chemotherapy regimens. The tumor responses were evaluated by the Response Evaluation Criteria of Solid Tumors. Progression-free survival and overall survival were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Toxicity was evaluated according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0.
Results: A total of 95 patients (53 men and 42 women) were included. The median age was 63 years (range, 29-83). Seventy (73.7%) patients had adenocarcinoma. The median number of prior systemic therapies was three (range, 2-7). The median number of cycles of pemetrexed therapy was four (range, 1-11). Seven (7.4%) patients achieved a partial response, and 33 (34.7%) had stable disease. The median progression-free survival was 11 6 days, and the median overall survival was 382 days. A trend toward increased progression-free survival was observed for patients who had non-squamous compared with squamous NSCLC.
Conclusion: Pemetrexed has modest efficacy for heavily pretreated NSCLC patients.
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