pemetrexed
Regulatory sources consulted
Approved indications
- First-line treatment of unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma in chemotherapy-naive patients with cisplatin; and non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer as first-line treatment, maintenance after 4 cycles without progression, or relapse after chemotherapy, according to the authorized regimen.
Contraindications
Absolute
- Hypersensitivity to pemetrexed or excipients; breastfeeding; concomitant yellow-fever vaccine.
Clinical warnings
- Monitor blood counts before each cycle and through the nadir. Delay or modify the cycle for myelosuppression; infections and bleeding may be severe or fatal. — CIMA/AEMPS, ficha técnica 85747
- Do not start a cycle until ANC is ≥1,500/mm³, platelets ≥100,000/mm³, and nonhematologic toxicity has recovered. Monitor renal function, skin, and lungs; withhold for pulmonary symptoms and permanently discontinue if interstitial pneumonitis is confirmed or severe bullous or exfoliative skin toxicity occurs. — OpenFDA, set_id 0f006b06-ab85-423d-ba0c-dfc3fc25844e
Drug interactions
- HighIbuprofen and other NSAIDs
Mechanism: They may reduce renal elimination and increase pemetrexed toxicity, especially with impaired renal function.
Recommendation: With CrCl 45–79 mL/min, avoid ibuprofen for 2 days before, on the dosing day, and for 2 days afterward. For long-half-life NSAIDs, interrupt for at least 5 days before, on the dosing day, and for 2 days afterward. If unavoidable, intensify hematologic, renal, and gastrointestinal monitoring.
CIMA/AEMPS, ficha técnica 85747
- HighLive vaccines
Mechanism: Immunosuppression may cause disseminated vaccine infection.
Recommendation: Live vaccines are not recommended during immunosuppression.
CIMA/AEMPS, ficha técnica 85747
Pregnancy and lactation
It may cause fetal harm. Perform pregnancy testing before treatment. Women must use effective contraception during treatment and for 6 months afterward; men during treatment and for 3 months afterward. Do not breastfeed during treatment or for 1 week afterward.
Recent literature (PubMed)
Amivantamab plus carboplatin-pemetrexed (chemotherapy) with and without lazertinib demonstrated antitumor activity in patients with refractory epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in phase I studies. These combinations were evaluated in a global phase III trial. A total of 657 patients with EGFR-mutated (exon 19 deletions or L858R) locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC after disease progression on osimertinib were randomized 2 : 2 : 1 to receive amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy, chemotherapy, or amivantamab-chemotherapy. The dual primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) of amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy. During the study, hematologic toxicities observed in the amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy arm necessitated a regimen change to start lazertinib after carboplatin completion. All baseline characteristics were well balanced across the three arms, including by history of brain metastases and prior brain radiation. PFS was significantly longer for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy [hazard ratio (HR) for disease progression or death 0.48 and 0.44, respectively; P < 0.001 for both; median of 6.3 and 8.3 versus 4.2 months, respectively]. Consistent PFS results were seen by investigator assessment (HR for disease progression or death 0.41 and 0.38 for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy, respectively; P < 0.001 for both; median of 8.2 and 8.3 versus 4.2 months, respectively). Objective response rate was significantly higher for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy (64% and 63% versus 36%, respectively; P < 0.001 for both). Median intracranial PFS was 12.5 and 12.8 versus 8.3 months for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy (HR for intracranial disease progression or death 0.55
For patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose disease progressed while receiving EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) therapy, particularly third-generation TKIs, optimal treatment options remain limited. To compare the efficacy of ivonescimab plus chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone for patients with relapsed advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) variant. Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, phase 3 trial at 55 sites in China enrolled participants from January 2022 to November 2022; a total of 322 eligible patients were enrolled. Participants received ivonescimab (n = 161) or placebo (n = 161) plus pemetrexed and carboplatin once every 3 weeks for 4 cycles, followed by maintenance therapy of ivonescimab plus pemetrexed or placebo plus pemetrexed. The primary end point was progression-free survival in the intention-to-treat population assessed by an independent radiographic review committee (IRRC) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. The results of the first planned interim analysis are reported. Among 322 enrolled patients in the ivonescimab and placebo groups, the median age was 59.6 vs 59.4 years and 52.2% vs 50.9% of patients were female. As of March 10, 2023, median follow-up time was 7.89 months. Median progression-free survival was 7.1 (95% CI, 5.9-8.7) months in the ivonescimab group vs 4.8 (95% CI, 4.2-5.6) months for placebo (difference, 2.3 months; hazard ratio [HR], 0.46 [95% CI, 0.34-0.62]; P < .001). The prespecified subgroup analysis showed progression-free survival benefit favoring patients receiving ivonescimab over placebo across almost all subgroups, including patients whose disease progressed while receiving third-generation EGFR-TKI therapy (HR, 0.48 [95% CI 0.35-0.66]) and those with brain metastases (HR, 0.40 [95% CI, 0.22-0.73]). The objective response rate was 50.6% (95% CI, 42.6%-58.6%) with ivonescimab and 35.4% (95% CI, 28.0%-43.3%) w
Osimertinib is a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) that is selective for EGFR-TKI-sensitizing and EGFR T790M resistance mutations. Evidence suggests that the addition of chemotherapy may extend the benefits of EGFR-TKI therapy. In this phase 3, international, open-label trial, we randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio patients with EGFR-mutated (exon 19 deletion or L858R mutation) advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not previously received treatment for advanced disease to receive osimertinib (80 mg once daily) with chemotherapy (pemetrexed [500 mg per square meter of body-surface area] plus either cisplatin [75 mg per square meter] or carboplatin [pharmacologically guided dose]) or to receive osimertinib monotherapy (80 mg once daily). The primary end point was investigator-assessed progression-free survival. Response and safety were also assessed. A total of 557 patients underwent randomization. Investigator-assessed progression-free survival was significantly longer in the osimertinib-chemotherapy group than in the osimertinib group (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49 to 0.79; P<0.001). At 24 months, 57% (95% CI, 50 to 63) of the patients in the osimertinib-chemotherapy group and 41% (95% CI, 35 to 47) of those in the osimertinib group were alive and progression-free. Progression-free survival as assessed according to blinded independent central review was consistent with the primary analysis (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.80). An objective (complete or partial) response was observed in 83% of the patients in the osimertinib-chemotherapy group and in 76% of those in the osimertinib group; the median response duration was 24.0 months (95% CI, 20.9 to 27.8) and 15.3 months (95% CI, 12.7 to 19.4), respectively. The incidence of grade 3 or higher adverse events from any cause was higher with the combination than with monotherapy - a finding driv
Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically on the based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported.We present 5-year outcomes from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-189 study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02578680). Eligible patients with previously untreated metastatic nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer without EGFR/ALK alterations were randomly assigned 2:1 to pembrolizumab 200 mg or placebo once every 3 weeks for up to 35 cycles with pemetrexed and investigator's choice of carboplatin/cisplatin for four cycles, followed by maintenance pemetrexed until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary end points were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Among 616 randomly assigned patients (n = 410, pembrolizumab plus pemetrexed-platinum; n = 206, placebo plus pemetrexed-platinum), median time from random assignment to data cutoff (March 8, 2022) was 64.6 (range, 60.1-72.4) months. Hazard ratio (95% CI) for OS was 0.60 (0.50 to 0.72) and PFS was 0.50 (0.42 to 0.60) for pembrolizumab plus platinum-pemetrexed versus placebo plus platinum-pemetrexed. 5-year OS rates were 19.4% versus 11.3%. Toxicity was manageable. Among 57 patients who completed 35 cycles of pembrolizumab, objective response rate was 86.0% and 3-year OS rate after completing 35 cycles (approximately 5 years after random assignment) was 71.9%. Pembrolizumab plus pemetrexed-platinum maintained OS and PFS benefits versus placebo plus pemetrexed-platinum, regardless of programmed cell death ligand-1 expression. These data continue to support pembrolizumab plus pemetrexed-platinum as a standard of care in previously untreated metastatic non-small-cell lung can
The primary analysis of this trial showed that first-line treatment with osimertinib plus chemotherapy with a platinum-based agent and pemetrexed led to significantly longer progression-free survival than osimertinib monotherapy among patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results from the planned final analysis of overall survival are needed. In this phase 3, international, open-label trial, we randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio patients with EGFR-mutated (exon 19 deletion or L858R mutation) advanced NSCLC who had not previously received treatment for advanced disease to receive either osimertinib (80 mg once daily) plus chemotherapy with pemetrexed (500 mg per square meter of body-surface area) and a platinum-based agent (cisplatin [75 mg per square meter] or carboplatin [pharmacologically guided dose]) or osimertinib monotherapy (80 mg once daily). The key secondary end point was overall survival. A total of 557 patients were randomly assigned to the osimertinib plus platinum-pemetrexed group (279 patients) or the osimertinib monotherapy group (278 patients). The median overall survival was 47.5 months in the osimertinib plus platinum-pemetrexed group and 37.6 months in the osimertinib monotherapy group (hazard ratio for death, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.61 to 0.96; P = 0.02). Grade 3 or higher adverse events of any cause were reported in 70% of the patients in the osimertinib plus platinum-pemetrexed group and in 34% of the patients in the osimertinib monotherapy group; adverse events leading to the discontinuation of osimertinib were reported in 12% and 7%, respectively. Among patients with EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC, first-line treatment with osimertinib plus platinum-pemetrexed led to significantly longer overall survival than osimertinib monotherapy and was associated with an increased risk of reversible adverse events of grade 3 or higher. (Funded by AstraZeneca; FLAURA2 ClinicalTrials