Phase i study of carboplatin plus pemetrexed with concurrent radiotherapy for locally advanced non–squamous nsclc (Cjlsg0912)

Although concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the standard therapy for unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), no optimal concurrent chemoradiotherapy regimen has been identified in non–squa-mous NSCLC. We conducted an open–label, multicenter phase I trial to assess the safety of carboplatin (CBDCA) plus pemetrexed (PEM) with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) of 60 Gy. The primary endpoint was determi-nation of the maximum tolerated dose. In total, 6 patients were registered during the period from February 2012 through January 2014. Dose–limiting toxicities (DLTs) were observed in 2 patients (one case each of prolonged neutropenia and pneumonitis). The overall response rate was 83.3%, and median progression–free survival was 20.1 months. Since only two DLTs were observed in the phase I cohort, we concluded that CBDCA plus PEM with concurrent TRT was feasible in Japanese patients with unresectable stage III non–squamous NSCLCs. We will rec-ommend the dose of CBDCA area under the curve 5 plus PEM 500 mg/m² for the next phase II trial.