Emerging role of pemetrexed in ovarian cancer.
The current treatment of choice of epithelial ovarian cancer involves aggressive tumor cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy; however, despite the encouraging activity of these agents, most ovarian carcinomas relapse and many patients die from drug-resistant disease. After the failure of platinum- and taxane-based schedules, several cytotoxic agents have demonstrated activity in advanced ovarian cancer but none were able to induce significant and durable responses. Among the new cytotoxic agents, pemetrexed plays an emerging role in different tumors, demonstrating competitive activity and a promising safety profile. In ovarian cancer, pemetrexed has been investigated, with encouraging results, as a single agent and in association with platinum compounds; moreover, the drug has shown interesting activity both in platinum-sensitive and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. According to these clinical results it appears reasonable to explore the combination of pemetrexed with other cytotoxic agents and also with targeted therapies in relapsed ovarian cancer patients.
Tomao
Federica
F
Dipartimento di Ginecologia, Perinatologia ed Ostetricia, Università di Roma Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena 324,00161, Rome, Italy.
Panici
Pierluigi Benedetti
PB
Frati
Luigi
L
Tomao
Silverio
S
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D005971:Glutamates / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006147:Guanine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000068437:Pemetrexed
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D005971:Glutamates; D000068437:Pemetrexed; D006147:Guanine