Use of amantadine in the evaluation of response to chemotherapy in lung cancer: a pilot study

Abstract

Aim: The assessment of tumor response to therapy is of critical importance as it permits for a prospective end point evaluation and provides a guide to clinicians for making future treatment decisions. However, current practices in early evaluation of chemotherapy are insufficient. Amantadine is a substrate for SSAT-1. The present pilot study tests the hypothesis that SSAT-1 activity within the tumor, as measured by plasma acetylamantadine concentrations, can be used to monitor patient response to therapy. Results: In cases with evidence of disease response, there was a reduction in the plasma acetylamantadine concentration at 4 h by approximately 32%. There was a mean increase of approximately 34% at the 4 h collection in the nonresponders. Conclusion: Although large-scale studies are required these findings suggest that the amantadine test could allow for determination of the efficacy of therapeutic interventions earlier, providing an effective test to assess response to treatment and for better management of patients.