A Study of Trimetrexate With Leucovorin Rescue for AIDS Patients Who Are Refractory to Standard Therapies for Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia

Summary

To study the safety and effectiveness of trimetrexate (TMTX) plus leucovorin calcium rescue (LCV) in the treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in patients who have AIDS, patients who are HIV positive, or those for whom laboratory confirmation of HIV infection has not yet been established if they are at high risk for HIV infection, and who have not responded to standard treatments or who have demonstrated severe or life-threatening intolerance to both conventional therapies for PCP. The drugs trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole (TMP / SMX) and pentamidine, usually used to treat PCP in AIDS patients, have proven ineffective in many patients and have had to be discontinued in many other patients because of severe side effects. TMTX was chosen for this trial because it was found to be very active against the PCP organism in laboratory tests and, in a preliminary trial in combination with LCV, there was a high response rate without severe toxicity.

Timeline

Start

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Primary completion

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Completion

2004-07

Publications

• Background Feinberg J, McDermott C, Nutter J. Trimetrexate (TMTX) salvage therapy for PCP in AIDS patients with limited therapeutic options. Int Conf AIDS. 1992 Jul 19-24;8(2):B136 (abstract no PoB 3297)

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Indications