title: Pemetrexed plus dendritic cells as third-line therapy for metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of pemetrexed plus dendritic cells (DCs) when administered as third-line treatment for metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). All patients in the study group had previously failed first-line treatment with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin-based regimens, as well as second-line treatment with taxane-based regimens. A total of 31 patients were treated with pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2)) plus DCs on day 1, every 3 weeks. DCs were given for one cycle of 21 days. Thirty patients were evaluated for their response. No patient had a complete response, three patients (10.0%) had a partial response, ten patients (33.3%) had stable disease, and 17 patients (56.7%) had progressive disease. The overall response rate was 10.0%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 2.9 months (95% CI, 2.7-3.2), and the median overall survival (OS) time was 7.1 months (95% CI, 6.4-7.9). The median PFS and OS times among patients with high and low levels of miR-143 expression in their blood serum were significantly different: median PFS times =3.2 months (95% CI, 2.9-3.4) and 2.7 months (95% CI, 2.4-3.0), respectively (P=0.017), and median OS times =7.8 months (95% CI, 6.8-8.9) and 6.3 months (95% CI, 5.3-7.3), respectively (P=0.036). No patient experienced Grade 4 toxicity. Combined third-line treatment with pemetrexed and DCs was marginally effective and well tolerated in patients with advanced ESCC. Serum miR-143 levels are a potential biomarker for predicting the efficacy of pemetrexed plus DCs in the treatment of ESCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Ji Ning First People's Hospital.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Shandong University, Shandong; Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Shandong University, Shandong; Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chun-Xiao
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Shandong University, Shandong; Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Shandong University, Shandong; Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Shandong University, Shandong; Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
keywords: dendritic cells; metastatic esophageal cancer; pemetrexed; serum miR-143