Clinical observations of maintenance chemotherapy by pemetrexed on advanced non-small-cell lung cancer / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the clinical effect of maintenance chemotherapy by pemetrexed in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Methods 60 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (stage Ⅲb~ Ⅳ) were randomly divided into observation group and control group , all the patients showed complete or partial remission after receiving 4 cycles of induction chemotherapy. Observation group was given pemetrexed maintenance (500 mg/m2 on days 1 every 21 days) until first disease progression, control group was given best supportive care . Progression free survival ( PFS ) , overall survival ( OS ) and adverse reaction were observed . Results PFS and OS of observation group were significantly higher than control group, PFS was (7.3 ± 1.20) vs (3.5 ± 1.13) months, OS was (12.2 ± 1.14) vs (7.1 ± 1.23) months, the difference was statistically significant. The main side effects were fatigue and leucopenia which were tolerable. Conclusion Maintenance therapy with peme-trexed following initial therapy was feasible, and extended the PFS and OS, and shows a favorable toxicity profile.