High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue in stage IIIB inflammatory breast cancer.

Background: Despite the advances in breast cancer care, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) has a poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) with thiotepa, mitoxantrone and carboplatin (TMJ regimen) in women with TNM stage IIIB IBC.

Patients And Methods: Between 1991 and 1998, twenty-eight patients with stage IIIB IBC underwent an autologous stem cell transplant after undergoing chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiation.

Combination therapy with thalidomide, temozolomide and tamoxifen improves quality of life in patients with malignant astrocytomas.

Background: Patients with malignant astrocytomas (MA) have a poor survival rate despite surgery, radiation therapy (RT), and chemotherapy (CT). Patients deteriorate rapidly with decreasing quality of life (QoL). The purpose of the current study was to determine the safety and efficacy, including QoL evaluation, of oral therapy with temozolomide, thalidomide, and tamoxifen (TTT) in patients with MA in an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, prospective trial.