Phase I Study of Tetrathiomolybdate in Combination With Carboplatin/Pemetrexed in Metastatic Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Platinum resistance is a major limitation in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Previous studies suggest that reduced tumor platinum levels may significantly contribute to platinum resistance and thus poor outcome following platinum-based chemotherapy in lung cancer. Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) is a fast-acting copper chelator that has been under significant investigation as an anti-cancer strategy due to its anti-angiogenic property. Furthermore, more recent preclinical evidence suggests that combining TM with platinum drugs resulted in higher intratumoral platinum concentration and greater tumor response. The oncologists at the University of Rochester are studying addition of TM to commonly used 1st line platinum-based doublet, carboplatin/pemetrexed, in patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.