Phase II trial of preoperative pemetrexed plus carboplatin in patients with stage IB-III nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Administration of 4 courses of pemetrexed/carboplatin was feasible. The efficacy was similar to neoadjuvant regimens previously investigated. A significant number of patients 19 of 46 (41%) in this trial did not have surgical resection after neoadjuvant therapy. Further investigation of the role of neoadjuvant pemetrexed/carboplatin requires a larger, randomized clinical trial.