Phase I-II study of high dose epirubicin plus cisplatin in unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer: searching for the maximal tolerated dose.

The purpose of this study was to search for the maximal tolerated dose of cisplatin in the cisplatin plus high-dose epirubicin combination for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. The following range of cisplatin dosages were tested in a phase I study: 75, 90, 105, and 120 mg/m2 in combination with epirubicin 120 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. Eligibility consisted of previously untreated stage IIIb or IV non-small-cell lung cancers, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status less than or equal to 2, age less than or equal to 70 years, measurable disease, adequate blood counts, chemistry, cardiac function, and no brain metastasis.

Antimüllerian hormone as a serum marker of granulosa cell tumorsof the ovary: comparative study with serum alpha-inhibin and estradiol.

Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate serum antimüllerian hormone as a marker for granulosa cell tumors.

Study Design: Serum antimüllerian hormone concentrations were determined in 16 patients with an adult-type granulosa cell tumor; in female patients with ovarian adenocarcinoma, benign ovarian cysts, or extraovarian cancers; and in normal premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Serum antimüllerian hormone, alpha-inhibin, and estradiol levels were compared in 10 patients with a granulosa cell tumor during 6 to 47 months of follow-up.

Reaction of peripheral-blood lymphocytes to the human chorionic gonadotropin beta sub-unit in patients with productive tumors.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and its beta sub-unit (hCG beta) are secreted by trophoblast cells during pregnancy, and by tumoral cells of trophoblastic and non-trophoblastic origin. In contrast to hCG, the free hCG beta sub-unit is consistently undetectable in healthy non-pregnant subjects. With this in mind, we sought to determine whether an immune response to hCG beta can be detected in patients with bladder or germ-cell testis cancers.

[Thrombosis and cancer].

Thrombotic episodes represent the second cause of mortality in cancer patients. These complications are more frequent with some adenocarcinomas and hematologic malignancies. The mechanisms of pathogenesis are complex inducing an unbalanced function of the antithrombotic system.

Monoclonal antibodies to the free beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin define three distinct antigenic domains and distinguish between intact and nicked molecules.

The present study was designed to characterize monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for the free beta-subunit of hCG (free hCG beta), to develop two-site immunoradiometric assays (m-IRMAs) specific for free hCG beta, and to study the reactivities of various molecular forms of hCG beta in these assays. We attempted first to delineate the antigenic regions present specifically on the free hCG beta by studying the binding pattern of seven mAbs directed preferentially to hCG beta, designated FBT11, P8E, P10F, HB2, P5D, P5H, and INN-64. Competitive inhibition experiments performed by RIA demonstrated the specificity of these mAbs for the free hCG beta as noncross-reacting with the beta-subunit of human (h) LH beta.

Free human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit in gonadal and nongonadal neoplasms.

The diagnostic value of elevated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and its free alpha (hCG alpha) and beta (hCG beta) subunit serum levels as specific tumor markers for nongonadal malignancies is controversial. In the present report, different monoclonal based immunoradiometric assays specific for hCG and its free hCG alpha and hCG beta subunits have been used to reevaluate the presence of these molecules in the serum of patients with a wide variety of tumors. Serum samples from patients with newly diagnosed, persistent, or recurrent malignancies of either known (n = 717) or unknown (n = 32) primary site, healthy blood donors (n = 309), and nonmalignant disease controls (n = 86) were studied using four highly specific and sensitive monoclonal based immunoradiometric assays to hCG and its free subunits.