Second-line Treatment of Stage III/IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with pemetrexed in routine clinical practice: Evaluation of performance status and health-related quality of life

Table 1 Baseline characteristics, all patients

	All patients (N = 521)
Age
Years, median (range)	66.3 (39-86)
≥ 70 years, n (%)	188 (36.1)
Gender, n (%) male	363 (69.7)
Origin, n (%) Caucasian	514 (98.7)
Weight, kg [mean (SD)]	74.9 (14.45)
Smoking status, n (%)
Current smoker	139 (26.7)
Ex-smoker	243 (46.6)
Never smoked	138 (26.5)
Missing data	1 ( 0.2)
Histology, n (%)
Non-squamous cell carcinoma	444 (85.2)
Squamous cell carcinoma ^a	77 (14.8)
Disease stage at study entry, n (%)
Stage IIIa	35 ( 6.7)
Stage IIIb	103 (19.8)
Stage IV	383 (73.5)
	All patients (N = 521)
Karnofsky Index (KI), n (%)
KI ≥ 80%	323 (62.0)
KI 70%	134 (25.7)
KI 60%	45 ( 8.6)
KI 50%	18 ( 3.5)
Missing data	1 ( 0.2)
Type of previous first-line chemotherapy
Platinum-based combinations, n (%)	450 (86.4)
Platinum-free combinations, n (%)	12 ( 2.3)
Single-agent, n (%)	59 (11.3)
Most frequent agents used (at least 10% of patients), n (%)^b
Carboplatin	327 (62.8)
Cisplatin	135 (25.9)
Vinorelbine	162 (31.1)
Gemcitabine	159 (30.5)
Paclitaxel	131 (25.1)
Duration of previous first-line chemotherapy, months [median (range)]	3.5 (0-32)
Time elapsed since previous first-line chemotherapy, months [median (range)]	3.9 (0-74)
Patients [n (%)] who started pemetrexed
Immediately after end of first-line treatment^c	82 (15.7)
Within 3 months after end of first-line treatment^d	132 (25.3)
More than 3 months after end of first-line treatment^e	302 (58.0)
Missing data	5 (1.0)

N = total number of patients, n = number of patients, SD standard deviation
^a) The study started in 2007, before the label change in April 2008 which restricted the use of pemetrexed to patients with non-squamous cell carcinoma
^b) Multiple nominations possible
^c) First dose of pemetrexed given ≤ 28 days after the last dose of first-line therapy
^d) First dose of pemetrexed dose given > 28 days but ≤ 3 months after the last dose of first-lintherapy
^e) First dose of pemetrexed dose given > 3 months after the last dose of first-line therapy

ISSN: 1471-2407