A retrospective study of pemetrexed combined with oxaliplatin as second-line treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: Comparable toxicity, better outcome.

Abstract

The outcomes of single-agent regimens as second-line chemotherapy for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are poor. Pemetrexed combined with oxaliplatin has been reportedly well-tolerated and active in chemotherapy-naïve NSCLC. The current study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect and toxicity of the regimen of pemetrexed plus oxaliplatin for pretreated advanced NSCLC. The clinical records of consecutive patients with metastatic NSCLC who received pemetrexed after failed first-line chemotherapy were reviewed. The medical records of 79 eligible patients were examined. Thirty-four of them were treated with a regimen of pemetrexed plus oxaliplatin (PEMOX). Another 45 patients were administered pemetrexed alone (PEM). Both regimens were well-tolerated and there was no therapy-related death. Comparable response rates (15.2% vs. 11.1%) and tumor control rates (63.6% vs. 47.5%) were observed between the two groups. Median time to progression and overall survival of the PEMOX and PEM groups were 18 weeks (95% confidence interval (CI): 13.72-22.28 weeks) versus 13 weeks (95%CI: 12.28-13.72 weeks; P= 0.002), and 31 weeks (95%CI: 15.56-46.44 weeks) versus 21 weeks (95%CI: 18.37-23.63 weeks; P= 0.006), respectively. The current retrospective study suggests that pemetrexed combined with oxaliplatin as second-line treatment for advanced NSCLC has comparable safety and response with a pemetrexed alone regimen, but better survival.