A phase II study of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin in advanced carcinoma of the esophagus.

Thirty-five patients with advanced epidermoid carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 425 mg/m2 and leucovorin 20 mg/m2, day 1-5 every 28 days. Six patients had a partial response (95% confidence limit, 7-35%) with a median response duration of 32 weeks. The median survival time of the patients on study was 14 weeks. The toxicity was acceptable, with only two patients experiencing severe hematologic toxicity and one patient experiencing severe nausea and vomiting. The addition of leucovorin at this dose level in this population of patients with advanced disease does not appear to enhance the activity of 5-FU for patients with squamous cell cancer of the esophagus. Since only a small percentage of patients experienced significant toxicity, a higher response rate could be achieved in patients treated with the maximally tolerated dose.     

Aspergillus brain abscess. A case report

The history and findings in a patient with erythroleukaemia who developed a fungal brain abscess during the agranulocytic phase of induction treatment is reported. The radiological features of fungal infection are reported, with emphasis on the importance of clinical judgement in making the diagnosis. The autopsy findings further illustrate the increasing importance of this previously very rare condition.     

A phase I study of a new 5HT3-receptor antagonist,BRL43694A,an agent for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

Summary In a phase I study of BRL43694A, a 5HT₃-receptor antagonist, a single dose of 40 g/kg was given to 24 patients. All patients received cytostatic treatment expected to cause nausea and vomiting. During the first 24 h, 12 patients were completely protected from nausea and vomiting, 4 experienced nausea and 8 had moderate vomiting; mild headache occurred in 10 patients. No cardiovascular (including ECG) changes took place. Apart from headache, no neurological side effects occurred.Supported by a grant from the National Cancer Association of South Africa     

Assessment of ventricular function by radionuclide angiography in patients receiving 4′-epidoxorubicin and mitoxantrone

Summary Serial assessment of ventricular function by means of radionuclide angiography was performed in 50 patients with malignant neoplasms who received either 4-epidoxorubicin or mitoxantrone for longer than 3 months.In 9 of 30 patients give 4-epidoxorubicin, a decrease of 10% in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was documented at doses of 143–1200 mg/m². Two patients developed clinical signs of cardiotoxicity at a dose of >1000 mg/m².In 6 of 20 patients given mitoxantrone a decrease of 10% in the LVEF occurred at doses of 26–98 mg/m².This study was supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Association of South Africa     

Phase I--II evaluation of combination cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil, hexamethylmelamine, and prednisone in advanced breast cancer

A four-drug combination of intermittent high-dose cyclophosphamide with 5-fluorouracil, hexamethylmelamine, and prednisone was given to 19 patients with advanced breast cancer. Objective response was documented in 7 of 18 evaluable patients. The median duration of response was 99 days. Response was observed in 6/7 patients without visceral disease and 1/11 patients with visceral disease. Toxicity was acceptable and no life-threatening toxicity was observed. Three patients have received the four-drug combination for more than 1 year without serious side effects. This regimen may serve as an alternative treatment for patients without visceral metastasis who have failed to respond to other combination chemotherapy regimens.     

Immobilization and catheter guidance for breast brachytherapy

Purpose  

Brachytherapy is an important mode of breast cancer treatment; however, improvements in both treatment planning and delivery are needed. In order to meet these specific needs, integration of pre-operative imaging, supplemented by computerized surgical planning and mathematical optimization were used to develop and test an intra-operative immobilization and catheter guidance system.     

21-day oral etoposide for metastatic breast cancer: a phase II study and review of the literature

Previous studies of etoposide for metastatic breast cancer commonly used bolus regimens given over a short period of time and included heavily pretreated patients. Results were poor. Chronic oral regimens would be expected to be superior to bolus doses based on pharmacologic studies and patients with less previous chemotherapy would be expected to have higher response rates. We studied the efficacy of oral etoposide at a dose of 50 mg/m2/day for 21 days of a 28-day cycle in good-risk patients with metastatic breast cancer. Healthy patients (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0, 1, or 2) who had not received chemotherapy for at least 1 year before study entry were selected for therapy. Thirty-four patients were entered; three patients were ineligible and one was cancelled. Thirty patients were available for analysis of response. One complete response and eight partial responses were documented (response rate, 30%; 95% confidence interval, 15-49%). A higher response rate was observed in those patients who never received chemotherapy compared with those who had received prior chemotherapy (57 vs. 6%, p = 0.004). There were two treatment-related deaths, both owing to myelosuppression and infection. We found long-term administration of oral etoposide to have a reasonable response rate for metastatic breast cancer (30%). Our response rate was comparable to those of other published studies of long-term oral etoposide regimens for metastatic breast cancer. Response rates in single-arm studies have generally been higher for long-term oral regimens than those for bolus regimens. We also found the regimen to be significantly toxic, an observation that may be underemphasized in the earlier literature.     

Treatment of squamous cell esophageal cancer with topotecan: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Study (E2293)

Seventeen patients with enhanced measurable squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with topotecan 1.5 mg/m2 daily for 5 days repeated every 21 days. Toxicity was severe, with 1 death from myelotoxicity and 10 patients with life-threatening myelotoxicity. Severe gastrointestinal toxicity consisting of vomiting was also seen in three patients. No response was seen in any of the patients in the study. Topotecan given in this manner has no activity in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.     

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in pregnancy

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma associated with pregnancy is rare. To date, only 1 case in which lymphoma was diagnosed and treated during pregnancy, with normal pregnancy outcome, has been reported. We describe another case where life-threatening, diffuse, poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma was diagnosed during the 13th week of pregnancy. Combination chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, bleomycin, and prednisone) resulted in remission and a health full-term infant was born.     

A phase II study of bisantrene in advanced refractory breast cancer. An Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group pilot study

Thirty patients with advanced refractory breast cancer received bisantrene 260 mg/m2 intravenously every 3 weeks. Reversible myelosuppression was the most commonly observed side effect. Four patients (13.3%) achieved objective partial response (90% confidence intervals 3-24%), while two patients (6.6%) had disease improvement with a PR + IMP rate of 19.9%. Seven additional patients (23.3%) had stabilization of disease. This drug has antitumor activity against breast cancer and warrants further study, particularly if problems with drug delivery are overcome.