Pharmacokinetics of gemcitabine in Chinese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

Abstract

To determine the pharmacokinetics of gemcitabine (2',2'-difluorodeoxycytidine) in Chinese non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Six study subjects were administered gemcitabine at a fixed dose rate of 10 mg/m2 per min (1200 mg/m2, two hours infusion) and carboplatin, and plasma gemcitabine concentrations were measured by ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). 3P97 Pharmaceutical Kinetics Software was used for the calculation of pharmacokinetic parameters. The obtained mean parameters, elimnation half life (t1/2) (10.67 ± 3.38 min), area under the curve (AUC) (7.55 ± 1.53 (μg·h)/ml), and clearance (CL) (3940.05 ± 672.08 ml/min), were consistent with those reported in literature. The hematologic toxicology result showed that the regimen was effective on and tolerated by the patients.