Evidence of activity of Irinotecan in patients with advanced AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.

Fourteen HIV-infected patients with advanced Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) received Irinotecan 150 mg/m intravenously on days 1 and 10. All patients were relapsed/progressed during highly active antiretroviral therapy, administered as primary antineoplastic therapy. An objective response, all partial remissions, occurred in 75% of patients.

Neoadjuvant accelerated chemotherapy followed by hyperfractionated radiation therapy in patients with operable, locally advanced head and neck carcinoma.

A prospective phase II trial was carried out to evaluate an accelerated chemotherapy (CT) regimen followed by hyperfractionated radiation therapy (RT) in previously untreated Stage III-IV, operable (total laryngectomy), head and neck cancer patients. The current study evaluates overall survival, loco-regional control, organ preservation rates and toxicity. Between April 1997 and December 2002, 68 patients with advanced head and neck cancer were treated with 3 cycles of induction CT (cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil; days 1, 14, and 28) followed by hyperfractionated RT (7440 cGy/62 fractions).

Treatment with peg-interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin of hepatitis C virus-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia: a pilot study.

Background/aims: The aim of this study is to verify the efficacy and safety of peg-interferon alfa-2b in combination with ribavirin for initial treatment of HCV-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia.

Methods: Eighteen patients (7 women and 11 men) affected by mixed cryoglobulinemia were included in the study and treated with peg-interferon alfa-2b 1.0 microg/kg once a week plus ribavirin (1000 mg daily) for 48 weeks, regardless of the HCV genotype.

Pharmacokinetic interaction between chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and protease inhibitors in HIV-1-infected patients.

Objectives: We have investigated whether chemotherapy for HIV-related systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) affects the pharmacokinetics of protease inhibitors.

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective, open-label, non-randomized, two-way crossover trial in HIV-1-infected patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy and chemotherapy for NHL. Seven patients received indinavir at a dosage of 800 mg three times daily and three patients received nelfinavir at a dosage of 750 mg three times daily.

Evaluation of three molecular biology-based assays for the detection of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus in clinical specimens.

Objective: The present study was performed to evaluate the reliability of three reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays, one commercial and two 'homebrew', for GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) RNA detection in clinical specimens. We, therefore, investigated the virus prevalence with the method that gave us the best performances.

Methods: The commercial assay amplified sequences from the viral 5'-untranslated region (5'UTR) and non-structural 3 (NS3) region.

Virological efficacy in HIV-infected patients affected by non-Hodgkin lymphoma, treated with antiblastic chemotherapy and highly active antiretroviral therapy.

This study evaluated replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the genotypic resistance pattern in 26 HIV-infected patients affected by non-Hodgkin lymphoma who were treated with at least 3 cycles of chemotherapy (CT; rituximab and CDE) and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Genotyping was performed at baseline and when virological failure occurred. Six patients met the virological failure criteria.

Improvement of systemic human immunodeficiency virus-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma outcome in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

To assess the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on the outcome of systemic human immunodeficiency virus-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma (HIV-NHL), we retrospectively analyzed 235 patients in whom HIV-NHL was diagnosed from April 1988 through December 1999. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate prognostic factors for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and disease-free survival (DFS). Complete remission occurred in 49% of patients, and the 3-year rates of OS, PFS, and DFS were 19%, 49%, and 73%, respectively.

Impact of concomitant antiblastic chemotherapy and highly active antiretroviral therapy on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viremia and genotyping in HIV-infected patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

We evaluated the replication and resistance patterns of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) strains recovered from HIV-infected patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who were receiving chemotherapy (CT) concomitant with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We analyzed virological response to HAART in 35 patients with HIV and NHL who were treated with a cyclophosphamide-doxorubicin-vincristine-prednisone chemotherapy regimen and HAART and the virological response in 26 HIV-infected patients with CD20 cell-positive NHL who were treated with rituximab and cyclophosphamide-doxorubin-etoposide therapy. Genotype and virtual phenotype analyses were performed at baseline and when virological failure occurred.

Quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in liver specimens and sera from patients with human immunodeficiency virus coinfection by using the Versant HCV RNA 3.0 (branched DNA-based) DNA assay.

The new generation assay Versant HCV RNA 3.0v (Bayer Diagnostics) was evaluated to quantify hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels in liver biopsy specimens from patients with HCV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection. A total of 25 liver biopsies and sera collected at the time of liver biopsy were used.

Stanford V regimen and concomitant HAART in 59 patients with Hodgkin disease and HIV infection.

A phase 2 prospective study was performed to evaluate the feasibility and activity of a short, dose-intensive chemotherapy regimen and radiotherapy (the Stanford V regimen) plus highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) support in patients with Hodgkin disease and HIV infection. Fifty-nine patients were enrolled. Stanford V was well tolerated and 69% of the patients completed treatment with no dose reduction or delayed chemotherapy administration.