A Study of Biweekly Pemetrexed and Gemcitabine in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

This study is designed to determine the efficacy of the biweekly pemetrexed/gemcitabine regimen when given to patients with metastatic breast cancer. Each agent has well demonstrated antitumor activity in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. In addition, in the phase I combination trial of the two agents, a durable tumor response was seen in one out of three heavily pretreated breast cancer patients (Adjei et al. 2000). Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that the combination of pemetrexed and gemcitabine administered may be associated with considerably more anti-tumor activity than either agent alone. If such activity is seen in this study, randomized studies comparing this combination with other active agents or combinations of active agents will be considered.