A preliminary study of intralesional, intralymph node, intravenous and intraperitoneal Corynebacterium parvum treatments in patients with advanced cancer.

Twenty-one patients with squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity and/or cervical lymph node and four patients with soft tissue sarcomas were given intralesional (2-4 mg/m2) and intralymph node (2-4 mg/m2) C. parvum injections followed by 5 intravenous (2-4 mg/m2) C. parvum treatments and conventional therapies.

Proton irradiation of choroidal melanomas. Preliminary results.

Choroidal malignant melanomas in nine patients were treated with proton beam irradiation at the Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass. Each patient received five proton beam treatments in eight to ten days, totalling 4,730 to 8,570 rads at the tumor. No complications occurred during the treatment or follow-up period, which, at the time of this writing, ranges from one to 24 months, with an average of 12 months.

Enhancement by Corynebacterium parvum of the normal and tumor tissue response to hyperthermia.

The effect of Corynebacterium parvum treatment on the response of tumor and normal tissue to hyperthermia (43.5 degrees) was studied. Animals were C3Hf/Sed mice from our defined flora mouse colony.

A clinical and pathological staging system for soft tissue sarcomas.

A system for staging the clinical status of patients with soft tissue sarcomas is presented, based on the clinical characteristics of the primary tumor (size, extension), the involvement of lymph nodes, the presence of metastases, and the grade of the tumor. This represents the TNM system with grade of tumor (G) added. The system evolved was based on examination of 1215 cases of 13 types of soft tissues sarcomas, primarily in the extremities (fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, etc.

Proton irradiation of small choroidal malignant melanomas.

Five patients with choroidal malignant melanomas were treated with proton irradiation with a cyclotron. We developed an accurate method of aiming the proton beam within the eye. Four to five tantalum rings, 2 mm in diameter, were sutured to the sclera at the edges of the tumor, which is localized by indirect ophthalmoscopy and transillumination.

Hyperthermic effects on animal tissues.

TCD50 values for thermally resistant tumors have been significantly reduced. The therapeutic ratio has been improved for some tumor-normal tissue situations and treatment protocols, but not for others. The oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) for hyperthermic damage may be congruent to 1; if this is true for tumor cells in vivo, the combination of hyperthermia and radiation should improve the therapeutic ratio to the extent that hypoxic cells are critical.

Soft part tumors.

Results of management of rhabdomyosarcoma of childhood have improved in a dramatic manner during the recent 10 years as a consequence of the treatment by three modality approach which relies on an intensive multi-drug multicycle chemotherapy regimen combined with radiation therapy and or surgery. Both local results and total disease-free survival rates are markedly better with this more comprehensive approach. A staging system for sarcoma of soft tissue has just been developed by the A.

Radiation therapy and Corynebacterium parvum in the treatment of murine tumors.

The relative effectiveness of local irradiation alone or combined with Corynebacterium parvum (C parvum) treatment has been investigated employing four tumors: a mammary carcinoma (MCa) (nonimmunogenic), a fibrosarcoma (moderately strongly immunogenic), and two squamous cell carcinomas (SCC-2 being weakly and SCC-4 being very weakly or nonimmunogenic). C parvum treatment was started when the isotransplanted tumor growing in the mouse leg was 5 mm in diameter and the local irradiation was administered to 8-mm diameter tumor. Effect of the combined treatment was barely evident with the MCa but strongly present in FSa; up to 60% of mice were cured of FSa by C parvum alone and the response to low radiation dose, e.

Effect of Corynebacterium parvum on the response to irradiation of a C3H fibrosarcoma.

A methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma of C3H mice has been used as 5th- to 6th-generation syngeneic transplant in an investigation of the role of Corynebacterium parvum as an adjuvant to the therapeutic effect of local irradiation of established tumors. The most effective route for administration of C. parvum in this tumor system was i.

Nonspecific immunotherapy by Corynebacterium parvum: phase I toxicity study in 12 patients with advanced cancer.

Corynebacterium parvum, a non-specific immunopotentiator, was administered intravenously to 12 patients with advanced cancer at 2, 3, and 4 mg/m2 dose levels in combination with radiation therapy. One dose of C. parvum was given every 7 days for a total of 4 doses in 21 days.

Radiotherapy in osteosarcoma.

Radiation therapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma has been considered with respect of the subclinical metastatic disease in the lung and the primary lesion. Emphasis is given to the necessity of coordinating the management plan of the primary lesion with an adjuvant program. Evaluation of the efficacy of a conservative treatment of the primary lesion by radiation therapy and chemotherapy is considered a proper subject for clinical study.

Combination chemotherapy in oat cell carcinoma of the lung.

Twenty-eight patients with oat cell carcinoma of the lung were treated with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone with and without irradiation. Median survival was significantly increased in this treatment group (10 months) as compared to a retrospective radiation alone series (5 months). Intensive chemotherapy with this four-drug regimen represents an initial step in effective management of this disorder.

Evaluation of rapid radiation treatment schedules utilizing two treatment sessions per day.

The authors studied normal human skin reactions to two different rapid radiotherapy schedules of 2 sessions per day and evaluated their effectiveness in relief of pain and local tumor control. Patients were randomized to three treatment groups: SCHEDULE A (control): conventional one treatment per day regimen totalling 3,760 rads in 22-23 days; SCHEDULE B: 2 sessions per day totalling 3,440 rads in 10-11 days; and SCHEDULE C: 2 sessions per day totalling 3,568 rads in 10-11 days. The pattern and magnitude of skin reactions in the three schedules are nearly identical but tumor regression and pain relief were achieved faster in the rapid fractionation schedules.

Radiation therapy of soft tissue sarcomas.

Recent advances in radiation therapy in the clinical management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue are discussed. Radical dose radiation therapy combined with limited surgery has been shown to be highly effective as treatment of early to moderately advanced sarcomas of the extremities. Desmoid tumors which are nonresectable have been treated with moderate to high radiation doses with regular success.