title: The place of pemetrexed in the management of non-small-cell lung cancer patients.
abstract: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Chemotherapy is included in the management of the majority of NSCLC patients either in addition to a local treatment (surgery/radiotherapy) or alone. In this setting, pemetrexed has become one of the most important partners of current chemotherapy regimens for nonsquamous NSCLC patients. Indeed, pemetrexed demonstrated a comparable efficacy to other previously available drugs in NSCLC, with however a better safety profile and an easier schedule of administration. In addition, pemetrexed demonstrated a greater efficacy in nonsquamous NSCLC that lead to an exploration of the underlying potential biological background. It is now suggested that the tumor thymidylate synthase level may act as a predictor of pemetrexed efficacy, therefore potentially providing clinicians in the future with a predictor of efficacy, which it is usually lacking with standard chemotherapies.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université - Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, Multidisciplinary Oncology & Therapeutic Innovations Department, Chemin des Bourrely, 13915 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tomasini
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greillier
authors.forename: Nataliya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khobta
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barlesi
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005971:Glutamates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006147:Guanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D000068437:Pemetrexed; D013940:Thymidylate Synthase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D005971:Glutamates; D000068437:Pemetrexed; D006147:Guanine; D013940:Thymidylate Synthase