Non-small-cell lung cancer — maintenance treatment with pemetrexed

Abstract

Numerous randomised trials have investigated the value of maintenance treatment using of the same or different agents in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with objective response or stable disease following first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. The results of some studies have shown that maintenance chemotherapy may delay disease progression compared with placebo, but significant benefit in terms of overall survival prolongation has been demonstrated in case of two agents only (pemetrexed and erlotinib). Both agents are currently approved and may be used in clinical practice. However, some controversies still exist on the optimal use of maintenance treatment in clinical practice due to several unresolved issues to be answered in further studies and the use of maintenance therapy have to be recognised as an option in selected patients. This paper is aimed to discuss the results of clinical trials and details of maintenance treatment with pemetrexed.