Pharmacokinetics and efficacy of pemetrexed in patients with brain or leptomeningeal metastases

Priya Kumthekar, Sean A. Grimm, Michael J. Avram, Virginia Kaklamani, Irene Helenowski, Alfred Rademaker, Mary Cianfrocca, William Gradishar, Jyoti Patel, Mary Mulcahy, Katie McCarthy, Jeffrey J. Raizer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Brain metastases (BM) and leptomeningeal metastases (LM) are devastating neurologic complications. Pemetrexed is a multi-targeted anti-folate agent approved for treatment of nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer but has anti-tumor activity in other solid tumors. We performed two trials using pemetrexed in patients with BM and LM to assess CSF penetration and anti-tumor activity. Patients were treated with intravenous pemetrexed at doses of 500 (n = 3), 750 (n = 3), 900 (n = 12) or 1,050 mg/m2 (n = 3) every 3 weeks. Neuro-imaging was done every 6 weeks. Matched CSF and plasma samples were obtained serially from three patients with Ommaya reservoirs; the remaining patients had a single paired collection. Twenty-one patients (15 women and six men) with median age of 50 years and median KPS of 90 were treated. Primary tumors included breast (13), lung (4), colorectal (1), endometrial (1), esophageal (1) and pinealoblastoma (1). Nine patients had prior whole brain RT and median number of prior chemotherapies was two including prior methotrexate in four patients. Median pemetrexed doses administered was three (range 1-14). Responses included one partial response, ten stable disease and ten progressive disease. Median time to progression and survival was 2.7 and 7.3 months; PFS six was 22 %. No major toxicities were seen. Pemetrexed distributed from the plasma to the CSF within 1-4 h with the resulting CSF concentrations < 5 % of plasma. Pemetrexed was tolerated in solid tumor patients with CNS metastases. Limited anti-tumor activity was seen, which might have been due to low CSF concentrations, although some patients displayed prolonged benefit.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)247-255
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Neuro-Oncology
Volume112
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2013

Funding

Acknowledgments Study was supported by Lilly Oncology (research support for JJR).

Keywords

  • Brain metastases
  • Leptomeningeal metastases
  • Pemetrexed
  • Pharmacokinetics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Neurology
  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Pharmacokinetics and efficacy of pemetrexed in patients with brain or leptomeningeal metastases'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this