[Experience with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

High-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone-marrow transplantation is active in non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. The results of randomized trials in the setting of consolidation of first complete remission are not in favor of use of high-dose chemotherapy. However preliminary results of pilot studies are in favor of this treatment in reponder patients.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by hematological support: experience in the treatment of germ cell tumors.

Etoposide, bleomycin, and cisplatin based combination chemotherapy (BEP) and the surgical removal of residual disease is the standard treatment of metastatic germ cell tumors (GCT). Standard treatment including three cycles of BEP for good risk patients and four cycles of BEP for poor risk patients allows 95 and 65% cure rates in these groups respectively. However, about 10% of patients achieving CR after first line therapy eventually relapse.

Phase I-II study of the somatostatin analogue lanreotide in hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Lanreotide (BIM 32014), a somatulin analogue, was found to be as effective as castration in a rat prostate tumor model. Therapeutic benefit was also demonstrated in the hormone-resistant phase of this tumor model. The activity of lanreotide may be due to a reduction in the levels of growth factors such as insulin growth factor 1 (IGF1).

Hepatocellular carcinoma during hormonotherapy for prostatic cancer.

A case is reported of a poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma that occurred in a 65-year-old patient who was on hormonotherapy for prostatic adenocarcinoma. The diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma was made 3 months after the initiation of a hormonal treatment with cyproterone acetate (for 1 month) and an LH-RH agonist. A cause and effect relationship between steroid hormones and hepatocellular carcinoma has been advocated in the literature.

[Value of mono-antibiotic therapy using piperacillin associated with sulbactam and possibly followed by vancomycin in febrile neutropenia in solid tumors].

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a monotherapy by piperacillin and sulbactam potentially associated to vancomycin as an empiric antimicrobial therapy in febrile neutropenic patients treated with nephrotoxic chemotherapy for solid tumors. Twenty-three patients were treated during 32 episodes with piperacillin 4 g i.v.

Super-high-risk germ-cell tumors: a clinical entity. Report of eleven cases.

Among patients suffering from nonseminomatous germ-cell tumor, with a poor prognosis, a subset underwent respiratory failure and died very early in the course of their treatment. Between 1982 and 1989, 11 out of 56 such patients (20%) died within the first 5 weeks of chemotherapy. The clinical, radiological, biological and infectious characteristics of these patients were analyzed.

A phase II study of high-dose cisplatin, vinblastine, bleomycin, and etoposide (PVeBV regimen) in malignant nondysgerminomatous germ-cell tumors of the ovary.

Fourteen patients with malignant nondysgerminomatous germ-cell tumors of the ovary were treated with a combination of high-dose cisplatin, vinblastine, bleomycin, and etoposide (PVeBV regimen). Nine patients received PVeBV as primary postoperative therapy, of whom four had no residual disease. Four patients received PVeBV for recurrent disease.

Phase I study of retelliptine dihydrochloride (SR 95325 B) using a single two-hour intravenous infusion schedule.

Retelliptine dihydrochloride (SR 95325 B, NSC D-626717-W) is an ellipticine derivative having a very high level of antitumor activity in resistant murine solid tumor models. We studied in a Phase I trial escalating doses of retelliptine using a single 2-hour IV infusion schedule. Data from other Phase I studies allowed a starting dose of 80 mg/m2 and a rapid dose escalation.

[Primary, highly malignant B-cell lymphoma of the prostate. Apropos of a case and review of the literature].

We report a case of prostatic non Hodgkin lymphoma arising in a 61-year-old man. The treatment consisted of a chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, adriamycine, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP regimen). A complete remission histologically proved was obtained.

[Carcinoma in situ of the testis].

Carcinoma in situ of the testis is a pre-invasive lesion that precedes the development of all germ cell tumors except spermatocytic seminoma. The pathological, epidemiological, biological and therapeutic aspects of this entity are reviewed.

[Prognostic factors for extratesticular involvement in stage I testicular cancer. Apropos of 58 cases].

To assess prognostic factors for extratesticular involvement in patients with testicular stage I non seminomatous germ cell tumors, we retrospectively studied the clinical and histological features of 58 patients treated at Institut Gustave-Roussy. Twenty-four patients were followed after orchiectomy alone, and 34 patients underwent an initial subsequent retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. Nineteen patients (33%) experienced an extratesticular involvement after a mean follow-up period of 40 months.

[Liposarcoma of the spermatic cord: apropos of a case with review of the literature].

We report a case of spermatic cord liposarcoma in a 72-year-old man. Local disease progression was observed in spite of multinodal treatment, including repeated wide surgical excision, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The literature and the treatment modalities of spermatic cord liposarcomas are reviewed.

Acute tumor lysis syndrome in poor-risk germ cell tumors: does it exist?

Acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) is a well-known adverse event described after effective chemotherapy for extensive, highly proliferative, and chemosensitive tumors. While its occurrence with hematological malignancies is frequently described, there have been scattered case reports documenting ATLS in solid tumors. However, such events have not been reported in poor-risk germ cell tumors.

Recombinant interferon-alpha efficacy in relapsed adult nephroblastoma: a case report.

We report on a 37-year-old woman with progressive lung and pleural metastases from a right nephroblastoma, who achieved partial remission with recombinant interferon-alpha. The drug was given subcutaneously at a dose of 5 mu. 3 times per week.

A small GTP-binding protein is frequently overexpressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with solid tumours.

ras oncoproteins and ras-related proteins constitute a large family of the small GTP-binding protein family. The rab branch of the ras superfamily is involved in the intracellular transport along the secretory and endocytic pathway in eukaryotic cells. We here demonstrate that a member of the rab branch, the rab2 protein, is frequently overexpressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with solid neoplasms.

Experimental animal models for the study of therapeutic approaches in renal cell carcinoma.

Renal cell cancer is a common malignancy with a poor response to multiple therapeutic modalities. Immunotherapy is the most promising of the various treatment approaches tried. Recently, Interleukin-2 has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer.

Phase II trial of pirarubicin in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

Eighteen patients with either metastatic or locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma were treated with intravenous infusion of Pirarubicin 50 mg/m2/day every 3 weeks. Seventeen patients were evaluable for response. One had minor response, 5 had stable disease, and 11 had progression of disease.

Prognostic factors and survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with chemotherapy or interferon-alpha.

Prognostic factors and survival were analysed in 295 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC), treated with either chemotherapy (1975-1990) or interferon (IFN) (1983-1990). The 3-year survival was 8 and 24% in the chemotherapy and IFN groups, respectively (P < 0.001).

[Efficacy of the combination of 5 fluorouracil, adriamycin and cisplatin (FAP protocol) in the treatment of metastatic cylindroma. Apropos of a case with review of the literature].

We report the case of a 43 year-old woman who was submitted to a complete surgical resection of an Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC) of the submandibular salivary gland which was associated with diffuse lung metastases. Combination chemotherapy with fluoro-5-uracil, adriamycin, and cisplatin (FAP) induced an almost complete disappearance of the chest lesions. The literature about ACC and its chemotherapy is reviewed.

Adult Wilms' tumour: review of 22 cases.

The Institut Gustave Roussy experience with nephroblastoma in 22 patients older than 16 years during a 19-year period (1973-1992) was retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent a nephrectomy. There were 4 stage I, 8 stage II, 3 stage III and 7 stage IV patients.

Long-term results of two VAB-like regimens (vinblastine + actinomycin-D + bleomycin + cyclophosphamide + cisplatin) in malignant germ cell tumours of the ovary.

21 patients with malignant germ cell tumours of the ovary were treated with two chemotherapy regimens including vinblastine, actinomycin-D, bleomycin, cyclophosphamide and cisplatin. Chemotherapy was delivered as primary postoperative therapy in 15 patients and for recurrent disease in 6 patients. 3 of 4 patients with pure dysgerminomas and 10 of 17 patients with non-dysgerminomatous tumours are alive without evidence of disease.

Phase I trial of high-dose fosfestrol in hormone-refractory adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Androgen deprivation displays the mean therapy of advanced stage prostatic cancer. The development of hormone-resistant disease leads to a fatal tumor progression. High-dose fosfestrol (diethylstilbestrol disphosphate) has been suggested to circumvent hormone resistance and to induce a direct cytotoxic effect.