Phase I trial of capecitabine and weekly irinotecan in combination with radiotherapy for neoadjuvant therapy of rectal cancer.

Purpose: To establish the feasibility and efficacy of capecitabine in combination with weekly irinotecan (CAPIRI) with concurrent pelvic radiotherapy (RT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Nineteen patients with rectal cancer clinical stage T3-4, Nx received weekly irinotecan 50 mg/m(2) (days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29) and two doses of capecitabine (days 1 through 38; dose level [DL] I, 500 mg/m(2) bid; DL II, 625 mg/m(2) bid) according to phase I methodology. Three-dimensional conformal RT was given to a dose of 50.

Capecitabine in combination with mitomycin C in patients with gastrointestinal cancer: results of an extended multicentre phase-I trial.

The aim of this study was to determine the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) and establish the recommended dose for mitomycin C added every 3 weeks to the standard combination dose of capecitabine. Cohorts of at least three patients with pretreated gastrointestinal carcinoma received capecitabine 1000 mg m(-2) orally twice daily on days 1-14 plus i.v.

Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with mitomycin C, infusional 5-fluorouracil and sodium folinic acid. A phase-I-study in patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.

Mitomycin C (MMC) in combination with infusional 5-fluorouracil (FU) plus folinic acid (FA) is an effective treatment for metastatic gastrointestinal cancer. Anthracyclines are commonly used in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose of liposomal, pegylated doxorubicin (Caelyx) in combination with infusional 5-FU/sodium FA and MMC.

Treatment of relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia.

By all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and chemotherapy over 70% of patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) may be cured; 20-30% of patients still relapse and require salvage therapy. For relapsed or refractory APL, a standard treatment has not yet been defined. However, several effective drugs and approaches have been described.

Chronic myeloid leukemia in the elderly: long-term results from randomized trials with interferon alpha.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in older patients has not been studied well. To assess the long-term outcome of older patients with Philadelphia- and/or BCR-ABL-positive CML, 199 patients aged >/=60 years representing 23% of 856 patients enrolled in the German randomized CML-studies I (interferon alpha (IFN) vs hydroxyurea (HU) vs busulfan (BU) and II (IFN+HU vs HU alone) were analyzed after a median observation time of 7 years. In all, 45 patients were treated with Bu, 63 with HU, and 91 with IFN.