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Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and adherence to home delivery (HD) of pemetrexed maintenance treatment in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (nsqNSCLC)., Materials and Methods: Exploratory, prospective, single-arm, Phase II study in advanced nsqNSCLC patients, with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0/1 that did not progress after 4 first-line induction cycles of a platinum doublet. The first cycle of pemetrexed (500mg/m(2)) was hospital administered, further cycles were HD until progressive disease or discontinuation. Feasibility was assessed by the adherence rate to HD (probability of reversion to hospital administration or treatment discontinuation due to HD) as primary endpoint, and by health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL: EQ-5D, lung cancer symptom scale [LCSS]), satisfaction with HD, overall survival (OS), and safety., Results: 52 patients (UK & Sweden) received a median of 4 (range 1-19) pemetrexed maintenance cycles. Adherence rate up to Cycle 6 was 98.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 86.4%, 99.7%). All but 2 patients remained on HD. 1 patient discontinued after Cycle 1 (patient decision), and 1 after Cycle 6 (non-compliance with oral dexamethasone). 87% (33/38) of the patients preferred home to hospital treatment and in 90% (28/31) of cases, physicians were satisfied with distant management of patients. During HD Cycles 2-4 mean change from baseline ranged from 3.0 to 7.7 for EQ-5D visual analog scale. The 6-month OS rate was 73% (95% CI: 58%, 83%). 1 patient had an HD-related adverse event (device-related infection, Grade 2) and 1 patient died after Cycle 1, before HD, due to a possibly drug-related atypical pneumonia., Conclusion: HD of pemetrexed maintenance treatment in patients with advanced nsqNSCLC was feasible, safe, and preferred by patients, while maintaining HRQoL. Physicians were satisfied with distant patient management., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The synergistic activity of pemetrexed with platinum agents in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the renal safety of carboplatin suggest a balanced benefit/risk profile for this combination in elderly patients. This multicenter, single-arm, phase II study included 62 patients (≥70 years) with chemonaïve advanced NSCLC, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0-1, and assigned to receive 6 cycles of 3-weekly pemetrexed 500 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 5. The primary endpoint was objective tumor response rate (ORR). Sixty-two patients received at least one dose of chemotherapy. Median age was 76.4 years [70.2-86] and all patients had PS 0 (16.1%) or PS 1 (83.9%). Stage IIIb disease in 21% patients and stage IV in 79% patients. Non-squamous cell carcinoma in 66.1% patients (adenocarcinoma 51.6%, large cell carcinoma 8.1%, other 6.5%) and squamous cell carcinoma in 33.9% patients. ORR was 28.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.58-43.26), all were partial responses. Stable disease rate was 42.9%. Grade 3/4 toxicities related to study drugs were: asthenia 16.1%, anorexia 4.8%, diarrhea 3.2%, neutropenia 51.6%, leucopenia 30.7%, thrombocytopenia 29%, anemia 19.4%. One related fatal septic shock occurred. In advanced NSCLC, pemetrexed use is restricted to non-squamous histology. The combination pemetrexed-carboplatin could be a valuable treatment option in elderly patients. Neutropenia was the most common toxicity. The ORR is within the range of data reported for pemetrexed-carboplatin in the general NSCLC population (24-31%)., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This is a phase I, escalating-dose trial targeting exclusively patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), investigating pemetrexed and fixed-dose cisplatin concurrently administered with high-dose radiotherapy (RT) after induction chemotherapy (CT). Primary objective was to determine the maximum tolerated dose and recommended phase II dose of pemetrexed., Patients and Materials: Patients with unresected stage III NSCLC, planned V20 ≤ 35%, and FEV ≥ 1.3 L, were treated every 21 days for 2 cycles (pemetrexed 500 mg/m2; cisplatin 75 mg/m2), followed by 2 cycles of concurrent CT-RT: pemetrexed starting dose was 400 mg/m2, escalated up to 800 mg/m2 per 100mg/m2 dose level (DL), cisplatin at 75 mg/m2 and RT at fixed dose of 66 Gy/33 fractions., Results: Nine of 10 enrolled patients (age range 46-68 years; 6 men; ECOG PS 0 [6 patients], PS 1 [4]; stage IIIA [1], IIIB [9]; 6 adenocarcinomas, 3 squamous cell carcinomas, 1 large cell carcinoma) were entered on 3 DLs. Dose escalation of pemetrexed was conducted up to 600 mg/m2 based on the independent safety monitoring board recommendation. One dose-limiting toxicity occurred at DL3: Grade 4 septic shock. Grade 3 related toxicities: 2 neutropenia at DL3, 2 lymphopenia per DL (3 recurrent), 2 leukopenia (1 recurrent) at DL3, 1 gastric pain (DL3), 1 nausea and 1 recurrent vomiting (DL2). No Grade 3/4 radiation-related toxicities were observed. No toxic death was observed. Disease control rate was 77.7% (1 CR, 4 PR, 2 SD). One-year survival rate was 90%., Conclusions: This phase I report of pemetrexed is dedicated to NSCLC with induction therapy and fixed high-dose RT. Pemetrexed at 500 mg/m2, concurrently given with cisplatin and RT was well tolerated and appears to be the only third-generation agent that can likely be recommended safely at full dose in future trials with concurrent RT., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)