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.