CPT-11 in gastrointestinal cancer.

Colorectal, gastric and pancreatic cancers are major health problems worldwide. Although surgery is a curative option in 50% of patients with colorectal cancer, it is much less effective in gastric cancer (< 20% of patients) and virtually ineffective in pancreatic cancer. These three cancer types also respond poorly to chemotherapy.

A unique clonal chromosome 2 deletion in endomyometriosis.

The cytogenetic analysis of a short-term culture from a so-called endomyometriosis revealed a unique clonal del(2)(p21). The embryologic origin of this uterine-like mass is controversial. The finding of a clonal chromosome aberration favors the proliferation hypothesis and suggests that endomyometriosis is a true neoplasm and that a somatic mutation might be involved in the etiology of this lesion.

Gene therapy for cancer.

This review looks at various gene therapy strategies that are currently being investigated either in experimental studies or in clinical trials. These approaches attempt to either enhance the antitumor immune response of the host, express conditional toxins specifically in tumor cells, reverse the transformed phenotype of tumor cells, or protect normal tissues against the toxicities of conventional treatments.

Phase II randomized trial comparing high-dose cisplatin with moderate-dose cisplatin and carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. European Lung Cancer Working Party.

Purpose: A phase II randomized trial was conducted in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to determine if the combination of moderate-dose cisplatin and carboplatin was active (primary end point) and could avoid the long-term limiting (renal, auditive, neurologic) toxicity of high-dose cisplatin, which prevents prolonged administration (secondary end point).

Patients And Methods: One hundred twenty-one patients, registered between April 1990 and September 1991, were randomized to receive high-dose cisplatin (120 mg/m2 intravenously [IV] on day 1) or a combination of moderate-dose carboplatin (200 mg/m2 IV on day 1 and moderate-dose cisplatin (30 mg/m2 IV on days 2 and 3). One hundred nine patients were eligible: 56 in the cisplatin arm and 53 in the combined arm; 52 and 47, respectively, were assessable for response.

Long-term survival after chemotherapy containing platinum derivatives in patients with advanced unresectable non-small cell lung cancer. European Lung Cancer Working Party.

The study set out to determine the rate of long-term survivors (LTS) in patients treated with platinum-containing chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), to identify prognostic factors predicting long-term survival (> or = 2 years) and to report the LTS natural history. Eligible patients with advanced NSCLC treated by chemotherapy in one of seven trials conducted by the European Lung Cancer Working Party from December 1980 to August 1991 were included. All patients received cisplatin and/or carboplatin.

Management of esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, and hepatobiliary neoplasms.

Data published during the latter part of 1980s have shown that the natural history of gastrointestinal cancers can be influenced by treatment. This was further confirmed in esophageal cancers, for which many phase II studies have shown that chemotherapy with and without radiotherapy can induce major responses before surgery. Trials demonstrating a survival benefit are needed.

Randomized study of vancomycin versus teicoplanin for the treatment of gram-positive bacterial infections in immunocompromised hosts.

Seventy-four immunocompromised patients with severe infection due to gram-positive organisms were randomized to receive either vancomycin or teicoplanin. Extensive cancer was present in 71 patients, of whom 47 died within a month. The types of infections were 46 bacteremias (39 associated with central catheters), 24 skin and soft tissue infections (3 with bacteremia), and 7 others (mainly bronchopneumonia).

Pilot study on the regional treatment of colorectal liver metastases by intermittent arterial ischaemia with degradable starch microspheres and arterial and portal infusion with mitomycin C plus 5-fluorouracil--a clinical trial led by the Gastrointestinal Tumour Cooperative Group E.O.R.T.C.

After interruption of the hepatic artery, the decrease of the arterial flow in the liver is temporary and the tumor periphery remains vascularized by the portal system. A rational approach of therapy for liver metastases seems to be a combined therapy including intermittent ischaemia by distal embolization through the hepatic artery with degradable starch microspheres and locoregional chemotherapy. A pilot study on the regional treatment of colorectal liver metastases by intermittent arterial ischaemia and intra-arterial and portal infusion of mitomycin C and 5-FU has recently been activated by the gastrointestinal tumor group of the European Organization on Research on Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) with the aim to evaluate the feasibility and the therapeutic value of such a clinical trial.

Hereditary intestinal neurofibromatosis. I. A distinctive genetic disease.

Intestinal neurofibromatosis without other manifestations of von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis was found in a multigeneration family. Neurofibromas were strictly limited to the intestine. Onset of symptoms was delayed until adulthood and some gene carriers remained asymptomatic into their middle or late adult years.