Intermittent intravenous high-dose cyclophosphamide therapy for advanced prostatic cancer with distant metastasis

Twelve patients with advanced carcinoma of the prostate were treated with intravenous high-dose cyclophosphamide. All were hormone-resistant cases. At an interval of 3-4 weeks, cyclophosphamide was administered intravenously. The standard dosage of cyclophosphamide was 1,000 mg/m2 and a 10% lower dose was administered to patients with liver dysfunction, anemia and elderly patients. The results of 10 patients were evaluable. One case showed objective partial response, 1 case was stable and 8 patients showed objective progression according to the NPCP efficacy evaluation standard. The overall response rate was 20%, which we did not consider satisfactory. As to toxicity of cyclophosphamide, one patient died of severe acute hepatic failure, but in others, complications were mild to tolerable.