Reduced folate and serum vitamin metabolites in patients with rectal carcinoma: an open-label feasibility study of pemetrexed with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation.

ABSTRACT: The objectives of this single-center, open-label, phase II study were to evaluate (a) the feasibility and safety of neoadjuvant administration of pemetrexed with oral folic acid and vitamin B12 (FA/B12) in newly diagnosed patients with resectable rectal cancer and (b) intracellular and systemic vitamin metabolism. Patients were treated with three cycles of pemetrexed (500 mg/m, every 3 weeks) and FA/B12 before surgery. The reduced folates tetrahydrofolate, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate were evaluated from biopsies in tumor tissue and in adjacent mucosa. Serum levels of homocysteine, cystathionine, and methylmalonic acid were also measured. All 37 patients received three cycles of pemetrexed; 89.2% completed their planned dosage within a 9-week feasibility tim

SUBMITTER: Stoffregen CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4825111 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature