Clinical efficacies of gemcitabine combined with docetaxel single or plus bevacizumab as second-line therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Abstract

Background: The aims of this study were to evaluate the clinical efficacies and safety of gemcitabine combined with docetaxel as second-line therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), and to compare the effect of combining with bevacizumab or not. Methods: A total of 37 MPM patients were collected, among whom 21 patients were treated with chemotherapy alone (group GD), and 16 patients were treated with chemotherapy + bevacizumab (group A + GD). Results: Of the 37 patients, 23 patients achieved the control of their disease conditions, including 1 case of complete response (CR), 9 cases of partial response (PR), 13 cases of stable disease (SD), and 14 cases of progressive disease (PD). The progression free survival (PFS) time was 4.5 months, and the overall survival (OS) time was 12.0 months. The objective response rates (ORR) in groups GD and A + GD were 23.8% and 31.3%, respectively, χ 2 =1.255, P=0.145, and the difference was not statistically significant; the disease control rate (DCR) in groups GD and A + GD were 52.4% and 75.0%, respectively, χ 2 =3.975, P=0.044, and the difference showed statistically significant. PFS in groups GD and A + GD were 4.0 and 5.4 months, respectively, χ 2 =4.615, P=0.032. OS in group GD and A + GD was 11.3 and 13.6 months, respectively, χ 2 =4.484, P=0.028. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusions: For MPM patients, if the disease proceeds after the first-line treatment (pemetrexed combined with platinum), the chemotherapy regimen of gemcitabine combined with docetaxel can be performed for the patients with better PS scores. The addition of bevacizumab can further improve the efficacies, and the adverse reactions can be tolerated.