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Updated: May 30, 2026
A Bioluminescent and Fluorescent Orthotopic Syngeneic Murine Model of Androgen-dependent and Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
Published on: March 6, 2018
Pemetrexed as second-line chemotherapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer after docetaxel failure: results from
Orazio Caffo1, Lucia Fratino, Roberto Barbieri
1Medical Oncology Department, Santa Chiara Hospital, Trento, Italy. orazio.caffo@apss.tn.it
Objective:
Although there is no standard treatment after docetaxel failure in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), second-line chemotherapy is increasingly required. Its mechanism of action and toxicity profile make pemetrexed suitable for testing in this setting.
Methods And Materials:
Patients with docetaxel-resistant CRPC received pemetrexed 500 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks for 6 courses. The usual premedication with vitamin supplementation and dexamethasone prophylaxis was regularly administered. The primary objective was to quantify the biochemical response rate.
Results:
The biochemical response rate was 10.5% (95% CI 1.3-33.1), with 2 patients showing a reduction in prostate specific antigen (PSA) of ≥50%. The null hypothesis that the PSA response rate would be less than 20% was therefore accepted, and patient accrual was stopped after the evaluation of the 19th patient. The 1-year overall survival rate was 61.5%, with a median survival of 14 months. A considerable proportion of the patients (36%) were withdrawn from the study because of hematologic and nonhematologic toxicity.
Conclusions:
Our experience with pemetrexed in CRPC patients appears discouraging in terms of activity and toxicity. No further studies of this drug should be performed in CRPC patients.
