This trial evaluated the safety of combining bevacizumab and pemetrexed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with stable brain metastases as second-line chemotherapy, while evaluating progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).
Brain metastases are a common complication of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) both at initial presentation and at the time of disease progression. Patients with brain metastases have often been excluded from large randomized phase III trials due to concerns of poorer survival and impaired ability of drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, as survival has improved, some trials have included such patients, often finding similar benefit to patients with metastatic disease elsewhere. Bevacizumab is a recombinant, humanized monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, has emerged as an important adjunct to platinum-based chemotherapy doublets for use in advanced NSCLC. This drug is normally used as a first line chemotherapy. Pemetrexed is a multi-targeted anti-folate agent,which is approved for use in first-line (with platinum), maintenance, and second-line treatment of advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. Based on the efficacy of pemetrexed as a second line agent and the safety questions surrounding bevacizumab in those with treated brain metastases, a trial was designed to look at the combination of both agents as a second line therapy in NSCLC patients with treated stable brain metastases
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
16
15 mg/kg, IV over 10 minutes every 3 weeks
500 mg/m²; IV over 10 minutes every 3 weeks
1000 micrograms, IM injection 1-2 weeks prior to treatment and repeated every 9 weeks until last dose of pemetrexed
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California, United States
Norris Cotton Cancer Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States
Cooper Cancer Institute
Voorhees Township, New Jersey, United States
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Incidence of Central Nervous System (CNS) Hemorrhagic Events
Number of events of brain or central nervous system (CNS) bleeding
Time frame: 18 months
Progression-free Survival (PFS)
Progression-free survival (PFS) is defined as the duration of time from start of treatment to time of documented disease progression or death. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for PFS were generated with IBM SPSS Statistics version 19.0 (SPSS, Inc, Chicago, IL).
Time frame: 18 months
Overall Survival (OS)
Overall Survival (OS) is defined as the duration of time from start of treatment to deat. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for OS were generated with IBM SPSS Statistics version 19.0 (SPSS, Inc, Chicago, IL).
Time frame: 18 months
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350 to 1000 micrograms 1 week prior to treatment and 3 weeks after last pemetrexed dose
4 mg; oral, twice a day at the following times: the day before, of and after each dose of pemetrexed