title: Pemetrexed and bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy for pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung.
abstract: Pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung is a rare, highly malignant subtype of lung cancer, with a more aggressive clinical course compared with other types of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Pemetrexed and bevacizumab are currently evaluated as two of the most reliable chemotherapeutic drugs for advanced NSCLC. We herein report a case of a 68- and a 46-year-old man with recurrent and chemo-naïve pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung, respectively, who were treated with a combination of carboplatin, pemetrexed and bevacizumab. The overall survival after the initiation of chemotherapy was 30 and 8 months, respectively. These cases exhibited a relatively long-term survival with chemotherapy. In the absence of definitive clinical trials, which are unlikely to be performed due to the rarity of this tumor, our cases demonstrated the potential utility of pemetrexed- and bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy. Our results also suggested that pemetrexed-containing chemotherapy may be key to the treatment of pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung.
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Mito Medical Center, University of Tsukuba, Mito, Ibaraki 310-0015, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Mito Medical Center, University of Tsukuba, Mito, Ibaraki 310-0015, Japan.
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ohara
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Mito Medical Center, University of Tsukuba, Mito, Ibaraki 310-0015, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kagohashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Tsukuba Medical Center, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurishima
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Mito Medical Center, University of Tsukuba, Mito, Ibaraki 310-0015, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Satoh
keywords: bevacizumab; chemotherapy; lung cancer; pemetrexed; pleomorphic carcinoma