Maintenance Therapies
Current research is exploring whether there is a benefit to either continuing a treatment drug for longer than the usual 4-6 cycles (referred to as “continuation maintenance”) or switching to a new drug to be given for a longer period of time after the first treatment cycles have been completed (referred to as “switch maintenance”). Several drugs have been approved for use or are commonly used as maintenance therapy, however, oncologists do not fully agree on whether it is always the best option.
- Erlotinib (Tarceva) was approved by the FDA for maintenance therapy in NSCLC for patients whose disease did not progress after four cycles of platinum-based therapy.
- Pemetrexed (Alimta) was approved for maintenance therapy in non-Squamous NSCLC for patients whose disease did not progress after four cycles of platinum-based therapy.
- Bevacizumab (Avastin) has not been approved for maintenance, but is often used as continuation maintenance after being combined with other chemotherapy drugs for initial treatment.