e18545 Background: Maintenance chemotherapy with pemetrexed is not the standard treatment of choice in patients with locally advanced or metastatic epiteliomorfe malignant pleural mesothelioma (EMPM). We would assess the safety and efficacy of a treatment with pemetrexed until progression disease after 4 or 6 cycles of induction therapy with or without platin. Methods: From July 2008 to September 2012, 21 patients (18 males and 3 females with a median age of 67 years range 58-84) with locally advanced or metastatic epiteliomorfe malignant pleural mesothelioma (EMPM) were enrolled. In all patients histology was epiteliomorfe malignant mesothelioma. Only 15 patients (71,4%) had a PS 0 whereas 6 (28,6%) had a PS 1. All patients received an induction therapy with or without platin. Each patient received an average of 5,6 cycles of induction chemotherapy. Then all patients received a maintenance chemotherapy with pemetrexed 500 mg/mq intavenously over 10 minutes every 3 weeks. Each patient received an average of 7,3 cycles of maintenance chemotherapy. All patients received folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation to improve safety. Results: At the time of analysis all patients were evaluable for response. Fourteen patients (66,6 %) had a partial response and two of these underwent surgery and obtained a complete response. Six patients (28,5%) had a stable disease. The median overall survival was 13 months, while median progression-free survival was 11 months. Grade 2-3 of WHO haematological toxicities (anemia and neutropenia) occurred in 4 patient (19%). We also observed grade 2-3 of WHO gastrointestinal toxicities (diarrhea, nausea and vomiting) in 2 patient (9.5%). Grade 2 of lack of appetite and asthenia occurred in 3 patients (14.3%). Conclusions: Our data show that a maintenance chemotherapy with pemetrexed in EMPM resulted in a moderate overall survival (13 months). These results indicate that patients with EMPM could benefit from a maintenance treatment with pemetrexed.
Baseline Population Characteristics And The Association Between Progression-Free Survival And Overall Survival In Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients
