Therapeutic effects of sequential chemoradiotherapy with pemetrexed and cisplatin on locally advanced laryngeal cancer

Objective: to explore the therapeutic effects of sequential chemoradiotherapy with pemetrexed and cisplatin on locally advanced laryngeal cancer (lalc). methods: fifty lalc patients who were treated in our hospital between january 2010 and january 2012 were selected and randomly divided into an observation group and a control group (n=25). the two groups were given conventional radiotherapy in the same manner,before which two cycles of chemotherapy were performed. the observation group intravenously infused with 500 mg/m2 pemetrexed on d1 and 25 mg/ m2 cisplatin on d1-3,with 28 days as a cycle. the control group was intravenously infused with 25 mg/m2 cisplatin on d1-3 and 400 mg/m2 fluorouracil,with 28 days as a cycle. the short-term effects and adverse reactions of both groups were observed after treatment,and their survival was observed by follow-up for five years. results: the response rate was 84% (21/25) in the observation group and 64% (16/25) in the control group,between which the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). the differences in the incidence rates of short-term adverse reactions such as grade iii-iv gastrointestinal reactions and bone marrow suppression were not statistically significant between pc regimen (pemetrexed combined with cisplatin) and pf regimen (cisplatin combined with fluorouracil) (p>0.05). the incidence of long-term adverse reactions such as grade iii-iv laryngeal edemas,laryngeal cartilage inflammation and laryngeal cartilage necrosis showed no significant differences between the two groups (p>0.05). the median survival was 3.3 years after pc chemotherapy and 2.8 years after pf chemotherapy,between which the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). the levels of serum tumor markers significantly decreased after pc and pf treatments compared with those before (p<0.05). conclusion: combining pc chemotherapy with radiotherapy has satisfactory short-term therapeutic effects on lalc,and the resulting adverse effects can be tolerated. therefore,this strategy is worthy of promotion and application in clinical practice. © 2016,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.