[Modern prospects for polychemotherapy of solid neoplasms in children].

To improve life quality and to increase survival in children with solid tumors, emphasis is placed on chemotherapeutical treatments along with other existing ones (surgery, radiation). By taking into account the fact that most malignant tumors in children are highly responsive to chemotherapy, programme treatment in children with neoplasms included the new drugs iphosphamide, vepeside, cisplatin, carboplatin, melfalan, bleomycin. The results of therapy with these drugs alone or in combination with well-known effective anthracycline antibiotics and plant preparations are presented.

[Some indices of gastrointestinal tract status in children cured fro malignant neoplasms].

A total of 2255 individuals who cured from oncological diseases in childhood in Moscow in 1978 to 1997 have been studied. Most (60%) children undergone special treatment have serious visceral abnormalities. The authors examined the negative impact of a special treatment on the gastrointestinal mucosa and changes in its function after termination of special therapy in 79 cured patients.

[Organ-preserving surgical interventions in unilateral nephroblastomas in children].

The paper presents data available in the literature and the authors' own findings of organ-preserving treatment of 9 children with unilateral nephroblastoma. It proposes absolute and relative indications for organ-preserving treatment in this pathology.

[Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of childhood mediastinal tumors].

Mediastinal tumors make up as high as 7% of the malignant neoplasms in children and are encountered in all age groups, slightly more commonly in preschool children. Three main groups of common symptoms that are typical of mediastinal tumors are identified. These include 1) symptoms associated with tumor compression of thoracic organs; 2) neurological disorders associated with compression or destruction of ganglionary nodes; 3) general symptoms.

[Clinical course, diagnosis and therapy of Ewing's sarcoma of the ribs in children].

X-ray examination is considered to be the most effective procedure for diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma of the rib. The extent of surgery and sequence of procedures are determined on the basis of its evidence. Treatment of infantile Ewing's sarcoma of the rib should include chemoradiation therapy and compulsory surgery.

[Management of nephroblastoma in children: current approaches and outlook].

Nephroblastoma or Wilms' tumor occurs most frequently in children. New approaches to diagnosis and treatment of this malignancy introduced for the last 15 years are reviewed. Current approaches are characterized by advances in computer noninvasive diagnostic techniques and more aggressive chemotherapy.

[The characteristics of eicosanoid synthesis in osteogenic sarcoma in children at puberty].

Levels of prostaglandin E (PGE), prostaglandin F2 alpha, prostacyclin A2, thromboxan B2 and leucotriene B4 assayed radioimmunologically were compared in 42 samples of osteogenic sarcoma and 22 samples of benign tumors and tumor-like lesions from children at the pubertal period. In osteogenic sarcoma samples, PGE and prostaglandin F2 alpha levels were higher than those of thromboxan B2, prostacyclin A2 and leucotriene B4. Osteogenic sarcoma revealed higher levels of the eicosanoids as compared to benign tumors and tumor-like lesions of the bone.

[Sex and pituitary hormone secretion in adolescents with osteogenic sarcoma and retarded sexual development].

Basal levels of secretion of total testosterone, estradiol-17 beta, their free, albumin-binding and sex steroid-binding globulin (SSBG)--binding fractions, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin and somatotropic hormone were measured in blood serum in the following groups of adolescents: (1) healthy, (2) suffering primary osteogenic sarcoma of the bone, (3) osteogenic sarcoma patients with pubertal retardation, and (4) pubertal retardation. A significant increase in total testosterone fraction, free androgen index and a decrease in blood SSBG level were established in osteogenic sarcoma patients as compared to corresponding controls, irrespective of pubertal status. No difference in the above indexes for estrogens was established between osteogenic sarcoma patients and controls in both pubertal status subgroups.

[Significance of therapeutic pathomorphosis in the treatment and prognosis of osteogenic sarcoma in children].

To decide the problem of adequacy of preoperative treatment and postoperative special therapy, it is necessary to determine the degree of therapeutic pathomorphosis of primary osteogenic sarcoma. According to the materials of the children's clinic of the All-Union Cancer Research Center, USSR AMS, the degree of impairment is dependent on the size of the neoplasm, nature of the treatment and the x-ray-morphological variant. In a group of patients given preoperative chemoradiation treatment for degrees III and IV of therapeutic pathomorphosis, the 5-year survival amounted to 37.

[Possibilities of endoprosthesis in osteogenic sarcoma in children].

Endoprostheses of the knee (14) and hip (after Sivash ) (2) joints were used in the treatment of 16 children operated on for osteogenic sarcoma at the Center Clinic. Postoperative complications leading to amputation occurred in two cases of lesions of the proximal part of shinbone . Good functional results were obtained: knee joints supplied with endoprosthesis flexed through 80 degrees.