[Progress and stagnation in chemotherapy protocols for primary osteosarcoma].

Thirty years ago, osteosarcoma of a limb meant amputation and death. Two years after diagnosis, 80% of the patients died from pulmonary metastases, despite early amputation. In 2002, more than 70% of these patients can be cured.

Bayesian estimation of methotrexate pharmacokinetic parameters and area under the curve in children and young adults with localised osteosarcoma.

Background: Methotrexate is the most efficient anticancer drug in osteosarcoma. It requires individual exposure monitoring because of the high doses used, its wide interpatient pharmacokinetic variability and the existence of demonstrated relationships between efficacy, toxicity and serum drug concentrations.

Objective: To develop a maximum a posteriori (MAP) Bayesian estimator able to predict individual pharmacokinetic parameters and exposure indices such as area under the curve (AUC) for methotrexate from a few blood samples, in order to prevent toxicity and facilitate further studies of the relationships between efficacy and exposure.