Radical cystectomy with or without adjuvant polychemotherapy for non-organ-confined transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder: prognostic impact of lymph node involvement.

Objectives: To analyze the effectiveness of adjuvant polychemotherapy after radical cystectomy for non-organ-confined transitional cell bladder cancer (Stages pT3b, pT4a, and/or pN1 or pN2).

Methods: Of 166 consecutive patients undergoing cystectomy at two institutions from 1987 to 1993, 80 received adjuvant polychemotherapy with methotrexate, vinblastine, and cisplatin plus doxorubicin (MVAC) or epirubicin (MVEC), whereas 86 had cystectomy only. The patients were evaluated for relapse-free survival and length of progression-free interval on the basis of follow-up data obtained in 1995 and 1996.

Adjuvant polychemotherapy of nonorgan-confined bladder cancer after radical cystectomy revisited: long-term results of a controlled prospective study and further clinical experience.

A total of 83 patients with nonorgan-confined bladder cancer with or without lymph node metastases (tumor stages pT3b, pT4a and/or pN1, pN2) was evaluated in November 1993 for relapse-free and overall survival. All patients underwent radical cystectomy between 1987 and 1991, 38 underwent adjuvant polychemotherapy with methotrexate, vinblastine and cisplatin plus doxorubicin (M-VAC) or epirubicin (M-VEC). Of the 83 patients 49 had entered a prospective randomized trial comparing adjuvant to no adjuvant treatment.

[The role of M-VAC polychemotherapy in the treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma of the bladder].

Over the last seven years, M-VAC combination chemotherapy has been used for: the treatment of transitional cell carcinoma with metastases (palliative indication) or to reduce operable T4a tumours (inductive, initial or preliminary indication), or before or after t for bladder cancers (neoadjuvant and adjuvant indications). The authors present their experience of 17 cases of stage T4a transitional cell carcinoma transformed into an operable stage by M-VAC. Those patients with regression of the tumour to a non-invasive stage at operation (patients with a good response) had a good prognosis.

Advanced bladder cancer (stages pT3b, pT4a, pN1 and pN2): improved survival after radical cystectomy and 3 adjuvant cycles of chemotherapy. Results of a controlled prospective study.

A total of 49 bladder cancer patients with tumor stages pT3b, pT4a and/or pelvic lymph node involvement without microscopic or macroscopic evidence of residual tumor was randomized into 2 comparative groups: the chemotherapy group was to receive 3 adjuvant cycles of methotrexate, vinblastine and cisplatin plus doxorubicin (M-VAC) or epirubicin (M-VEC) after radical cystectomy. The control group received no additional treatment. The protocol was activated in May 1987.

Hematologic effects of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in patients with malignancy.

The effect of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on hematologic parameters was evaluated in a phase I clinical study in 18 patients with advanced malignancy. G-CSF was administered once daily as a 30-minute infusion for 14 days; three patients each were treated at increasing dose levels of 1, 3, 10, 30, and 60 micrograms kg-1 day-1. A transient decrease in neutrophil and monocyte counts was observed immediately after the G-CSF infusion, followed by a dose-dependent increase of up to 15-fold.

Hematopoietic responses in patients with advanced malignancy treated with recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

The in vivo effect of yeast-derived recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rh GM-CSF) was investigated in 30 patients with advanced malignancy in a phase Ib trial. Patients were treated at four different dose levels (120 to 1,000 micrograms/m2/d) by either daily intravenous (IV) bolus injection or 24-hour continuous infusion. Administration of rh GM-CSF resulted in a broad spectrum of dose- and schedule-dependent hematopoietic effects.

Yeast-expressed granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in cancer patients: a phase ib clinical study.

The in vivo effect of yeast-derived recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) was investigated in 29 patients with advanced malignancy in phase Ib trial. Patients were treated at six different dose levels (30-1000 micrograms/m2/day) with either daily intravenous bolus injection or 24 hours continuous infusion for 5 days or 2 weeks. Administration of rh GM-CSF resulted in a broad spectrum of dose-, route-, and schedule-dependent hematopoietic effects.

Measurement of the respiratory burst in human monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes by nitro blue tetrazolium reduction and chemiluminescence.

We compared measurements of chemiluminescence (CL) assessing the rate of production of oxygen intermediates at a given instance, and of nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction detecting total superoxide produced during the assay period, for the assessment of the respiratory burst of both human monocytes (M phi) and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). In the CL experiments, opsonized and non-opsonized zymosan was used to stimulate peripheral blood M phi and PMN. Opsonized zymosan yielded an earlier and 2-fold higher peak response than non-opsonized zymosan.