Two lung masses with different responses to pemetrexed

Korean J Intern Med. 2010 Jun;25(2):213-6. doi: 10.3904/kjim.2010.25.2.213. Epub 2010 Jun 1.

Abstract

We described here a patient who had two lung masses. Although the two masses had the same histology and a similar good response to initial chemotherapy with gemcitabine and carboplatin, the response to pemetrexed as a second-line treatment was different after re-growth of the tumors. These two lung masses could have originated from different clones or they could have progressed through different paths of molecular pathogenesis after metastasis, which would lead to different tumor characteristics, including their chemosensitivity. Regardless of their pathogenetic mechanisms, it seems important to recognize that tumors with the same histology that develop in one patient can have different responses to drugs.

Keywords: Drug resistance; Lung neoplasms; Neoplasms, multiple primary; Pemetrexed.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Carboplatin / therapeutic use
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / pathology
  • Deoxycytidine / analogs & derivatives
  • Deoxycytidine / therapeutic use
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Female
  • Gemcitabine
  • Glutamates / therapeutic use*
  • Guanine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Guanine / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / pathology
  • Pemetrexed

Substances

  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Glutamates
  • Pemetrexed
  • Deoxycytidine
  • Guanine
  • Carboplatin
  • Gemcitabine