Intrathecal Pemetrexed for Recurrent Leptomeningeal Metastases From Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Summary

It has been proved that intrathecal chemotherapy is the main treatment strategy for leptomeningeal metastases. At present, the commonly used drugs for intrathecal chemotherapy include methotrexate, cytarabine, and liposomal cytarabine. In recent decades, no new effective drugs have been discovered for intrathecal chemotherapy. The recurrence of leptomeningeal metastases is inevitable even after aggressive treatment. There is no effective treatment for recurrent leptomeningeal metastases after comprehensive treatment which includes intrathecal methotrexate and/or cytarabine, central nervous system radiation therapy, systemic chemotherapy as well as tyrosine-kinase inhibitor drugs. The quality of life is extremely poor, and the patients always die in short time. Pemetrexed is a newer multitargeted antifolate which has shown activity in various tumors. It has higher effectiveness and safety, which has been used as the first-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. In animal studies, pemetrexed was demonstrated to suppress tumor growth completely in mice with two types of transplanted human colon xenografts resistant to methotrexate. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of intrathecal pemetrexed in patients with recurrent leptomeningeal metastases from non-small cell lung cancer.

Timeline

Start

2017-03-01

Primary completion

2018-09-15

Completion

2019-01-05

Publications

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• Results Adjei AA. Pharmacology and mechanism of action of pemetrexed. Clin Lung Cancer. 2004 Apr;5 Suppl 2:S51-5. doi: 10.3816/clc.2004.s.003.
• Results Rinaldi DA, Burris HA, Dorr FA, Woodworth JR, Kuhn JG, Eckardt JR, Rodriguez G, Corso SW, Fields SM, Langley C, et al. Initial phase I evaluation of the novel thymidylate synthase inhibitor, LY231514, using the modified continual reassessment method for dose escalation. J Clin Oncol. 1995 Nov;13(11):2842-50. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1995.13.11.2842.
• Results Yan J, Zhong N, Liu G, Chen K, Liu X, Su L, Singhal S. Usp9x- and Noxa-mediated Mcl-1 downregulation contributes to pemetrexed-induced apoptosis in human non-small-cell lung cancer cells. Cell Death Dis. 2014 Jul 3;5(7):e1316. doi: 10.1038/cddis.2014.281.
• Results Ramirez JM, Ocio EM, San Miguel JF, Pandiella A. Pemetrexed acts as an antimyeloma agent by provoking cell cycle blockade and apoptosis. Leukemia. 2007 Apr;21(4):797-804. doi: 10.1038/sj.leu.2404599. Epub 2007 Feb 22.
• Results Pan Z, Yang G, He H, Zhao G, Yuan T, Li Y, Shi W, Gao P, Dong L, Li Y. Concurrent radiotherapy and intrathecal methotrexate for treating leptomeningeal metastasis from solid tumors with adverse prognostic factors: A prospective and single-arm study. Int J Cancer. 2016 Oct 15;139(8):1864-72. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30214. Epub 2016 Jun 30.
• Pan Z, Yang G, Cui J, Li W, Li Y, Gao P, Jiang T, Sun Y, Dong L, Song Y, Zhao G. A Pilot Phase 1 Study of Intrathecal Pemetrexed for Refractory Leptomeningeal Metastases From Non-small-cell Lung Cancer. Front Oncol. 2019 Aug 30;9:838. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00838. eCollection 2019.

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