Preliminary Observation Of The Treatment Of Pemetrexed Combined With Cisplatin In Advanced Metastatic Breast Cancer

Background and purpose:The treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer is very difficult. The main purpose of the treatment is to alleviate symptoms and prolong quality survival. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop a more rational and effective treatment. Pemetrexed is a multi-target anti-folate agents, by inhibiting the activity of enzymes which are necessary for folic acid synthesis to inhibit DNA replication and thus inhibit the tumor growth. This study was under taken to define the efficacy and toxicity of pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin in patients with metastatic breast cancer in order to get new ideas from this study and new methods.Methods:11 patients with measurable metastatic breast cancer who had previously received first-line adjuvant treatment were treated with pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 (10-minute intravenous infusion) and cisplatin 75 mg/m2 (intravenous infusion after pemetrexed) every 21 days. Every patients was received the treatment of the folic acid, vitamin B12 and dexamethasone supplementation. All patients received two or more cycles of chemotherapy. Evaluation of response and adverse reactions were practiced every 2 cycles.Results:11 patients who can be evaluated were received median follow-up period of 6 months (3-20 months). Four partial responses for an overall response rate of 36.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 11% to 69%] were documented. Four (27.2%) patients had stable disease for>6 months. The median time to progression was estimated to be 5 months (2-13 months). The T tests showed applications that pemetrexed in combination of cisplatin can significantly reduce the values of CA 15-3 after chemotherapy (P <0.05). The most common toxicities were neutropenia and leukopenia in 54.55% and 54.55% of patients, respectively.63.64% of patients experien-ced nausea and vomiting. Other common non-hematological toxicities included fatigue (45.4%) and rash (18.2%). There were no serious adverse reactions.Conclusions:Results of this study suggest that the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer has promising efficacy and an acceptable safety profile. Myelosuppression (54.5% neutropenia and leukopenia) and gastrointestinal reactions (63.64%) were the major treatment-related toxicity observed for this combination.