An assessment of global health status in survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in childhood.

Purpose: Progressive improvement in survival rates of children with cancer demands an appraisal of the "cost of cure." Much information is available on the frequency and severity of individual late effects in long-term survivors, but there are few data on multiple sequelae in individual patients or on global morbidity burdens.

Patients And Methods: To address this issue, we developed a multiattribute health status classification system.

Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis during high-dose chemotherapy of small-cell lung cancer.

In 103 patients with small-cell lung cancer, we compared four courses of standard doses of Adriamycin (A) (Adria Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio), vincristine (V), and cyclophosphamide (C) with a regimen of increased doses of cyclophosphamide and to a lesser extent, Adriamycin. We found no significant difference in rate (22% v 21%) or median duration (seven v nine months) of complete remission. Patients not in complete remission after the four cycles of AVC received two courses of VP-16 (etoposide) and cisplatin: the complete remission rate increased to 49% and 48% respectively.