Chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine versus fluorouracil for locally advanced rectal cancer: a randomised, multicentre, non-inferiority, phase 3 trial.

Background: Fluorouracil-based chemoradiotherapy is regarded as a standard perioperative treatment in locally advanced rectal cancer. We investigated the efficacy and safety of substituting fluorouracil with the oral prodrug capecitabine.

Methods: This randomised, open-label, multicentre, non-inferiority, phase 3 trial began in March, 2002, as an adjuvant trial comparing capecitabine-based chemoradiotherapy with fluorouracil-based chemoradiotherapy, in patients aged 18 years or older with pathological stage II-III locally advanced rectal cancer from 35 German institutions.

High single-drug activity of nelarabine in relapsed T-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma offers curative option with subsequent stem cell transplantation.

Nelarabine, a purine analog with T-cell specific action, has been approved for relapsed/refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (ALL/LBL). This is a report of a single-arm phase 2 study conducted in adults (18-81 years of age) with relapsed/refractory T-ALL/LBL. After 1 or 2 cycles, 45 of 126 evaluable patients (36%) achieved complete remission (CR), 12 partial remission (10%), and 66 (52%) were refractory.

Device for the local radiation of tumor-bearing laboratory rodents.

Since no standard method for reproducibly irradiating local tumors of laboratory rodents exists, the authors designed a device to accurately irradiate rodent tumors. Laboratory personnel can easily assemble this inexpensive device. The new device delivers highly focused treatment and avoids the need for anesthesia and sedation.

Severe reversible toxic encephalopathy induced by cisplatin in a patient with cervical carcinoma receiving combined radiochemotherapy.

Case Report: A 45-year-old patient with cervix carcinoma received combined radiochemotherapy including cisplatin. After a cumulative dose of 240 mg/m(2) the patient suddenly became somnolent and developed a severe tetraparesis and generalized seizures. After ruling out intracranial bleeding, cerebral metastases as well as infectious and metabolic causes of this condition, a severe toxic encephalopathy was diagnosed based on the clinical findings and MRI scans.

Methotrexate-albumin and aminopterin-albumin effectively prevent experimental acute graft-versus-host disease.

Background: During the last several years, major progress has been made in developing targeted chemotherapy using cytotoxic drugs covalently bound to human serum albumin (HSA). We explored the activity of two antifolates methotrexate (MTX) and aminopterin (AMPT) bound to HSA in prophylaxis and treatment of experimental acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD).

Methods: In all, 113 female F1 hybrid BN/Lew-rats were irradiated with 8.

Postoperative chemotherapy may not be necessary for patients with ypN0-category after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy of rectal cancer.

Purpose: After neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy and surgery, there is no general agreement about whether postoperative chemotherapy is necessary. With the help of clinical and pathohistologic data, prognostic factors were determined as a basis for the decision to spare a patient additional chemotherapy or to urgently recommend it.

Results: Ninety-five patients treated with neoadjuvant 5-fluorouracil-based radiochemotherapy (November 4, 1997 and June 15, 2004) without distant metastases and an R0 (microscopically complete) resection were evaluated.

Accidental intrathecal administration of bleomycin: favorable outcome after pneumo-encephalus and cerebrospinal fluid exchange: a case report.

Bleomycin is generally used as an antineoplastic drug for the intravenous treatment of germ cell tumors or lymphomas. Due to its toxic effect on epithelial cells bleomycin is also used for the treatment of malignant pleural or pericardial effusions. Inadvertent intrathecal administration of cytotoxic drugs may occur due to increasingly complex therapeutic protocols, even when control mechanisms are applied.

Treosulfan and fludarabine: a new toxicity-reduced conditioning regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

New conditioning regimens are being explored to reduce toxicity and enable allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in patients not eligible for conventional transplantation. We have investigated treosulfan, an alkylating agent, with the aim of developing an efficient and reliable but less-toxic conditioning regimen. A series of 30 patients who were not eligible for standard conditioning therapy received transplants from HLA-matched related (n = 14) or unrelated (n = 16) donors after administration of treosulfan 10 g/m2 intravenously daily for 3 days and fludarabine 30 mg/m2 intravenously daily for 5 days.

Adding weekly irinotecan to high-dose 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid (HD-5-FU/FA) after failure for first-line HD-5-FU/FA in advanced colorectal cancer--a phase II study.

Unlabelled: Irinotecan (CPT-11) has been shown to prolong survival and improve quality of life in comparison to best supportive care in colorectal cancer patients with pretreatment of bolus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). After first-line 24-h high-dose (HD) 5-FU/folinic acid (FA) an objective response rate of 11% with 3-weekly CPT-11 350 mg/m was reported. In the present study we investigated weekly CPT-11 in combination with 24-h HD-5-FU/FA as second-line treatment after prior exposure to 24-h HD-5-FU.

Efficacy and tolerability of an aminopterin-albumin conjugate in tumor-bearing rats.

The antifolate aminopterin (AMPT) was developed before methotrexate (MTX), but was not clinically established or generally used due its increased toxicity compared to MTX. Recently, we reported on the increased metabolism of albumin conjugates such as methotrexate-albumin (MTX-SA) in malignant tumors and the feasibility of using albumin as a carrier for drug targeting. Consequently, AMPT was covalently bound to serum albumin (AMPT-SA) at a 1:1 molar ratio.