Second-line gemcitabine-based chemotherapy regimens improve overall 3-year survival rate in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: a multicenter retrospective study

• Published in: Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) Vol. 31; no. 8; p. 74
• Main Authors: Mutlu, Hasan, Gündüz, Şeyda, Karaca, Halit, Büyükçelik, Abdullah, Cihan, Yasemin Benderli, Erden, Abdülsamet, Akca, Zeki, Coşkun, Hasan Şenol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-08-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aged; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - therapeutic use; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives; Deoxycytidine - therapeutic use; Female; Glutamates - administration & dosage; Glutamates - therapeutic use; Guanine - administration & dosage; Guanine - analogs & derivatives; Guanine - therapeutic use; Hematology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mesothelioma - drug therapy; Mesothelioma - mortality; Mesothelioma - pathology; Mesothelioma, Malignant; Middle Aged; Oncology; Original Paper; Pathology; Pemetrexed; Retrospective Studies; Survival Rate; Treatment Outcome; Mesothelioma; Second-line; Gemcitabine; Survival
• ISSN: 1357-0560; 1559-131X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12032-014-0074-9

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of second-line gemcitabine-based chemotherapy regimens on overall survival (OS) in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients receiving first-line pemetrexed-based regimens. A total of 73 patients with MPM from Akdeniz University, Acibadem Kayseri Hospital, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital, and Erciyes University were analyzed and evaluated retrospectively as two groups: second-line gemcitabine-based chemotherapy and no second-line chemotherapy. The median OS of patients who received second-line gemcitabine-based chemotherapy was 11.3 (5.1–17.5) months, while it was 9.9 (2.1–17.7) months in the patients who did not receive chemotherapy in the second-line setting (
p
 = 0.056). When we evaluated the survival rate at the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 36th month, the OS rate of the 36th month was significantly higher in patients who received gemcitabine-based second-line chemotherapy (
p
 = 0.041). When evaluating the OS from diagnosis to death, the median OS values were 20.8 (17.5–24.1) months for first-line pemetrexed-based regimens then second-line gemcitabine alone and 13.1 (9.0–17.1) months supportive care after first-line pemetrexed-based regimens (
p
 = 0.005). According to our results, we may consider gemcitabine-based regimens as second-line chemotherapy after treatment with pemetrexed plus platinum in patients with MPM.