Article Abstract:
The adrenal gland is actually two distinct glands with different functions. While cancers of the adrenal medulla are common, cancers of the adrenal cortex are extremely rare. When they do occur, adrenal cortical cancers are aggressive and neither surgery nor chemotherapy offer more than temporary relief. Furthermore, the secretion of steroids by the cancerous tissues may make the disease particularly unpleasant. A study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of a chemotherapeutic drug combination in the treatment of adrenal cortical cancer. Fourteen patients were treated with a combination of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, cisplatin. At the time of treatment, all patients had rapidly progressive cancer and a large tumor burden, that is, they were already carrying an especially large mass of cancerous tissues. Of the 13 patients available for follow-up, only one achieved a complete response. This patient lived without symptoms for 42 months until the reappearance of metastatic cancer in the lungs which led to the patient's death. Of the remaining patients, two patients had partial responses which lasted for 6 and 11 months. In an additional two patients, the rapid progression of the cancer was halted; this stabilization of disease lasted four and six months. The results indicate that the combination of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cisplatin is as effective in the treatment of adrenal cortical cancer as any other treatment that has been evaluated to date. However, the present study was too small to determine if the combination used might be more effective than either cisplatin or doxorubicin used separately. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
Although gestational trophoblastic tumors (GTT) are among the most curable of all malignancies, the subpopulation of patients who do not respond to therapy with methotrexate and dactinomycin have a dismal prognosis. The response of 12 resistant high-risk GTT patients to treatment with cisplatin, vinblastine, and bleomycin was evaluated. Four patients were eliminated from the study due to scientific or medical reasons. The eight remaining patients had developed metastases. Following treatment with cisplatin, vinblastine and bleomycin six of the eight patients experienced complete remission. One of the six patients experienced a relapse four months after treatment. The remaining five GTT patients are listed as cured, with the durations of remission ranging from 30 to 96 months. The treatment protocol provided reasonable success and was well-tolerated by the patients. The combination of cisplatin, etoposide or vinblastine, and bleomycin or dactinomycin seem promising for the salvage of GTT patients when conventional treatment has failed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
The combination of cisplatin and etoposide (PE) is one of the standard treatments for non-small cell lung cancer. Although numerous attempts have been made to improve the response rate by adding a third drug to the combination, a protocol more effective than PE has not been found. In a Phase II randomized trial, the effectiveness of ifosfamide as a possible third agent was evaluated. Thirty-nine patients received only PE, and 39 received cisplatin, etoposide, and ifosfamide (PEI). The response rates of both groups was similar. The average survival times were also similar, at six months for PEI, and seven months for PE. The results suggest that the addition of ifosfamide to the standard PE treatment for non-small cell lung cancer provides no advantage. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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