A phase I and pharmacokinetic trial of terephthalamidine (NSC 57155) as a 120-hour continuous infusion

In this phase I study, terephthalamidine was administered as a 120-hour continuous infusion repeated every 21 days. Thirteen patients received 27 courses of terephthalamidine at four dose levels (14, 28, 46, and 70 mg/m²/day). Dose-limiting toxicity consisted of profound and intractable anorexia, weight loss and prostration in all patients. Toxicity was delayed and accompanied by hyponatremia and hypokalemia. No hematologic or other toxicity was documented. One patient with adenocarcinoma of the lung had a 40% decrease in mediastinal lymph nodes and resolution of a pleural effusion lasting 2 months. Pharmacokinetic analysis by HPLC was performed in all patients during their first course. The harmonic mean terminal half-life for terephthalamidine was 23 hours with a plasma clearance of 1.7 l/hr/m². Both plasma concentrations achieved during infusion (r² = 0.9) and area under the curve (AUC) (r² = 0.8) were proportional to increase in dose (p < 0.002). Renal excretion accounted for 64% of the total cumulative dose, with an average renal clearance of 1.16 l/hr/m². Due to the unacceptable toxicity seen at all doses with this schedule, no further studies are recommended unless the mechanism of toxicity is better understood and can be prevented.     

Patients' and doctors' perception of long-term morbidity in patients with testicular cancer clinical stage I

Patient-based questionnaires were designed with the aim to identify and rank long-term somatic and psychosocial morbidity in patients with low-stage testicular cancer. A further intention was to compare patients' assessments with experienced doctors' general opinion on quality of life items in cured testicular cancer patients. In pilot study I, 103 tumour-free patients ranked items of physical and psychosocial morbidity after having had various kinds of treatment. Though the ranking procedure appeared to cause some difficulties amongst the patients and subsequently was abandoned, the results indicated considerable differences between the patients' and doctors' evaluations. In pilot study II patients were asked to score the different items. The questionnaire of pilot study II was completed by 107 patients from the Norwegian Radium Hospital (NRH) and 99 relapse-free patients from the Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH) with testicular cancer stage I at least 1 year after infradiaphragmatic radiotherapy (n = 94) or adjuvant chemotherapy (2 cycles,n=26), or patients who had been followed on the surveillance program (n = 86). A total of 93 doctors completed a similar questionnaire, thereby expressing their general opinion on long-term morbidity in comparable testicular cancer patients as seen during routine clinical follow-up. Both the irradiated patients and those on the surveillance program reported slight degrees of Raynaud-like phenomena, neurotoxicity and ototoxicity, most probably representing IDDLE" BORDER="0">background morbidityIDDLE" BORDER="0"> in an age-matched general male population. Doctors tended to underestimate their patients' somatic morbidity, but often overestimated the degree of psychological distress, in particular in patients on the surveillance program. Significant differences between RMH and NRH patients with regard to sexual problems and to leisure time activity may be explained by cultural differences in the two countries. The items presented in the questionnaire used identify important issues for patients cured of testicular cancer which may be used in future multicentre trans-cultural studies assessing these patients' quality of life. This will provide sufficient data for psychometric testing and, together with the findings from patients' free comments, support the final design of a testicular cancer quality of life module.     

口服Ⅱ号避孕药对血小板功能及血液凝固的影响

为了解口服Ⅱ号避孕药对血小板功能及血液凝固性的影响,本文对65名连续服药妇女进行了研究。她们的年龄为27～45(平均36.5)岁。服药期限1～17(平均6.7)年。测定项目有纤维蛋白原,血小板粘附率,血小板聚集率,Ⅷ因子相关抗原,抗凝血酶活力等。20例未服药妇女作对照。测定结果服药组血小板粘附率、聚集率及纤维蛋白原比对照组明显增高(P<0.001)。Ⅷ因子相关抗原略增高,但无统计学意义。抗凝血酶活力显著降低(P<0.001)。本文就急性心肌梗塞及血栓栓塞的潜在可能性等问题进行了讨论,并对预防此类并发症提出了建议。     

Clinical phase I study with one-hour paclitaxel infusion

Background: Paclitaxel (PAC) is one of the major anti-cancer drugs,effective in different tumors. Studies with 24-hour infusion with 135mg/m² and a three-hour infusion with 175 mg/m²showed a significant schedule-dependent toxicity. We evaluated a one-hourinfusion schedule within a phase I study to determine the dose limitingtoxicity (DLT), the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and the anti-cancerefficacy.Patients and methods: Patients with advanced malignant tumors weretreated within cohorts by one-hour infusional paclitaxel starting with 150mg/m² and stepwise escalation with 25 mg/m²increments. Therapy was repeated in three-week intervals. Cycles wererepeated until progression. Toxicity was closely monitored, anti-cancerefficacy was only evaluated in those patients who received at minimum twotreatment cycles.Results: Thirty-four patients entered the study (11 NSCLC, five SCLC,seven ovarian cancer, one cervix cancer, nine MBC, one HN cancer). The MTDwas PAC 250 mg/m². The DLT was central and peripheralneuropathy (WHO grade 3). Other significant toxicities were fatigue,myalgia/arthralgia and paraesthesia. No significant myelotoxicity wasobserved. Totally twentyone patients were evaluable for response. A partialresponse was observed in five (24%) patients (two NSCLC, two ovariancancer, one head and neck cancer). Three (14%) patients had stabledisease and in 13 (62%) patients progressive disease was observed.Conclusions: Paclitaxel 225 mg/m² on day 1 administered asone-hour infusion and repeated every three weeks can be given safely, featuredno relevant myelotoxicity, and is the recommended dose for phase II studies.     

重亚硫酸盐修饰直接测序技术检测p16基因甲基化的研究

目的建立稳定的重亚硫酸盐直接测序技术，检测p16基因甲基化状况。方法提取正常人全血基因组DNA．建立起稳定的重亚硫酸盐直接测序平台，利用该技术检测结直肠癌细胞株pl6基因甲基化状况。结果应用列联表的Fisher，Exact Test比较3种纯化方法的测序结果，乙醇／醋酸钠和过柱纯化与SAP—ExonI纯化法比较，测序结果差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）；应用重亚硫酸盐直接测序技术，可检测出p16基因目的片段中CpG岛所有CpG位点的甲基化状况。结论应用SAP—ExonI纯化法，建立了稳定的重亚硫酸盐直接测序技术，并可检测出目的片段中CpG岛所有CpG位点的甲基化状况。     

Phase I and pharmacologic study of the human DNA methyltransferase antisense oligodeoxynucleotide MG98 given as a 21-day continuous infusion every 4 weeks

Purpose: MG98 is a second generation phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotide which is a highly specific inhibitor of translation of the mRNA for human DNA MeTase I (DNMT 1). This phase I study examined the toxicity and pharmacologic profile of MG98 administered as a continuous 21-day intravenous infusion every 4 weeks. Patients and methods: Fourteen patients with solid cancers received a total of 25 cycles of MG98 at doses ranging from 40 to 240 mg/m²/day. Steady-state concentrations of MG98 were measured as were several pharmacodynamic assessments including mRNA of the target gene, DNMT1, in PBMC. In addition, other potential surrogate markers of drug effects were explored, including hemoglobin F, Vimentin and GADD45. Results: Dose limiting effects were drug-related reversible transaminase elevation and fatigue seen at doses of 240, 200 and 160 mg/m²/day. The dose level of 80 mg/m²/day was felt to be safe and tolerable when delivered on this schedule. No evidence of antitumor activity was observed. Although pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that at the higher dose levels, mean Css values of MG98 were approximately 10-fold times the IC₅₀ values associated with target inhibition in vitro, the extent of MG98 penetration into target tumors in this trial was not determined. No consistent, dose-related changes in correlative markers including DNMT1 mRNA, hemoglobin F, Vimentin and GADD45, were observed. Conclusions: This schedule of MG98 given as a 21-day continuous intravenous infusion every 4 weeks was poorly tolerated in the highest doses; therefore, further disease-site specific evaluation of the efficacy of this agent will utilize a more favorable, intermittent dosing schedule. Pharmacodynamic evaluations undertaken in an attempt to explore and validate the biological mechanisms of MG98 did not show dose-related effects.     

An autopsy case of acute porphyria with a decrease of both uroporphyrinogen I synthetase and ferrochelatase activities

Summary An autopsy case of a 37-year-old woman with acute porphyria is reported. The patient began to complain of severe menstrual pains, and later developed serious peripheral neuropathy and various autonomic nervous symptoms.The autopsy revealed a marked loss and degeneration of axons and myelin sheaths in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), and prominent central chromatolysis of the spinal anterior horn cells. The predominant process of the peripheral neuropathy appeared to be axonal degeneration.Biochemical analysis showed a marked increase of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), porphobilinogen, uroporphyrin, and coproporphyrin in the urine, and an increase of coproporphyrin and protoporphyrin in the stools and blood. In the analysis of the enzymatic activities of the liver and bone narrow, the activity of ALA synthetase (ALA-S) was markedly increased, and the activities of both uroporphyrinogen I synthetase (URO-S) and ferrochelatase were decreased. It was characteristic in this case that the enzymatic abnormalities found in both acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) and variegate porphyria (VP) coexisted.Biochemical analysis of the sciatic nerve showed an increase of ALA-S activity and a decrease of both URO-S and ALA dehydrase activities. This was the first report that indicated the presence of abnormal activities of the heme biosynthetic enzymes in the peripheral nerves of porphyric patients. The possibility was discussed that these enzymatic abnormalities of the heme biosynthesis in the peripheral nerve itself might be strongly related to the pathogenesis of the porphyric neuropathy.