Incidence of cutaneous reactions with pemetrexed: Comparison of patients who received three days of oral dexamethasone twice daily to patients who did not.

Pemetrexed is a multitargeted antifolate indicated for locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma. Cutaneous reactions are associated with pemetrexed use. Pemetrexed prescribing information recommends oral dexamethasone 4 mg twice daily for three days starting the day before pemetrexed infusion to prevent cutaneous reactions. Patients receive intravenous dexamethasone before pemetrexed infusion at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, but the oral dexamethasone recommendation is not always followed. The objective of this study was to determine if there is a difference between patients who received three days of oral dexamethasone starting the day before pemetrexed infusion and patients who did not by determining incidence of cutaneous reactions, delay in therapy, and therapy change due to adverse reactions. Eighty-five patients received at least one dose of pemetrexed between August 1, 2012 and August 31, 2017. Twenty-nine patients did not receive three days of oral dexamethasone 4 mg twice daily and 56 patients did (34.1% vs. 65.9%). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of cutaneous reactions between the intervention group and the control group (13.8% vs. 25.0%;