title: Critical appraisal of pemetrexed in the treatment of NSCLC and metastatic pulmonary nodules.
abstract: Pemetrexed, a new multitarget antifolate antineoplastic agent, has significantly improved the overall survival in nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer patients. Presently, pemetrexed is recommended for first line treatment in combination with platinum derivatives, for second line treatment as a single agent and, more recently, as maintenance treatment after first line chemotherapy. In this article we critically appraise the status of pemetrexed including pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and the cost effectiveness of pemetrexed, as well as the predictive biomarkers for pemetrexed based chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Lung Cancer Metastasis and Tumor Microenvironment, Tianjin Lung Cancer Institute, Department of Lung Cancer Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Heping District, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Lung Cancer Metastasis and Tumor Microenvironment, Tianjin Lung Cancer Institute, Department of Lung Cancer Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Heping District, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Lung Cancer Metastasis and Tumor Microenvironment, Tianjin Lung Cancer Institute, Department of Lung Cancer Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Heping District, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: chemotherapy; non-small-cell lung cancer; pemetrexed