OncoPharm Pemetrexed Maintenance
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Oct 20, 2022 The discussion revolves around pemetrexed as a maintenance treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. It breaks down the differences between switch and continuation maintenance strategies, highlighting pivotal studies that shaped current approaches. Patient demographics and treatment side effects are also examined, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness and challenges of this therapy.
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Pemetrexed Efficacy Depends on Histology
- Pemetrexed proved effective with less toxicity compared to docetaxel in second-line metastatic NSCLC treatment.
- It does not work well in squamous cell histology, which shifted treatment approaches based on histology.
Switch Maintenance Boosts Progression-Free Survival
- Switch maintenance with pemetrexed after platinum chemo improved progression-free survival significantly in NSCLC.
- The overall survival benefit was mostly in non-squamous histology due to pemetrexed's limited effect in squamous cell cancers.
Start Maintenance Therapy Early
- Consider starting maintenance therapy immediately after induction rather than waiting for progression to delay disease relapse.
- Starting next treatment early may help avoid treatment resistance due to tumor heterogeneity.