Activity of pemetrexed (ALIMTA, multitargeted antifolate, LY231514) in metastatic breast cancer patients previously treated with an anthracycline and a taxane: an interim analysis
Abstract
As many breast cancer patients receive adjuvant chemotherapy using anthracyclines or anthracenediones and taxanes, more therapeutic options are needed for subsequent lines of therapy. Pemetrexed (ALIMTA, multitargeted antifolate, LY231514) is a novel antifolate that inhibits several enzymes in the de novo pathways of pyrimidine and purine biosynthesis. This paper reports on a subset analysis of a phase II clinical trial of pemetrexed in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Patients were required to have received prior first-line anthracycline therapy for metastatic disease. Prior adjuvant chemotherapy and prior taxanes were allowed. A substantial subset of the study population (31 of 72 patients, 43%) had also received a taxane in the metastatic setting. All patients were treated with pemetrexed, 600 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion, once every 21 days. In the study subset, 23 of 31 (74%) patients were anthracyclines failures (progression > 30 days following treatment), and eight (26%) patients were anthracyclines refractory (progression during or < or = 30 days of treatment). The median age was 55 years (range, 30-75 years) and the median World Health Organization performance status was 0. Metastases were p...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Population pharmacokinetic analysis of ten phase II clinical trials of pemetrexed in cancer patients
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