Irinotecan and vinorelbine in patients with non-small cell lung cancer previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. A phase II study of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of irinotecan plus vinorelbine every 2 weeks in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Forty-one patients with advanced NSCLC, refractory or resistant to platinum derivatives, were treated on an out-patient basis with irinotecan 150 mg/m2 intravenous (i.v.

Weekly chemotherapy with docetaxel, gemcitabine and cisplatin in advanced transitional cell urothelial cancer: a phase II trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a combination of weekly docetaxel, gemcitabine and cisplatin in advanced transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-five chemotherapy-naïve (adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy was allowed) patients with advanced TCC received intravenous docetaxel 35 mg/m2, gemcitabine 800 mg/m2 and cisplatin 35 mg/m2, on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks. Prophylactic granulocyte-colony stimulating factor was given from days 3 to 6 and days 10 to 15, anti-emetics were used routinely.

Chemotherapy with cisplatin, epirubicin and docetaxel in transitional cell urothelial cancer. Phase II trial.

Cisplatin (CDDP), epirubicin (EPI) and docetaxel have single agent activity against urothelial transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). We evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of this combination in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial TCC. Patients with urothelial TCC who had no prior chemotherapy (prior adjuvant chemotherapy > 6 months allowed) were eligible for entry the study.

Chemotherapy with methotrexate, carboplatin, mitoxantrone (Novantrone) and vincristine (Oncovin) in transitional-cell urothelial cancer.

Forty-four patients with either metastatic or locally advanced transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder were treated with the MCNO regimen (methotrexate 300 mg/m2 in 1,000 ml normal saline as a 4-hour infusion on days 1 and 14 with leucovorin rescue 15 mg 6-hourly for 6 doses; carboplatin 300 mg/m2 in 250 ml 5% distilled water as a 1-hour infusion on day 1; mitoxantrone (Novantrone) 10 mg/m2 in 100 ml 5% distilled water as a 30-min infusion on day 1, and vincristine (Oncovin) 1 mg/m2 as an intravenous bolus on days 1 and 14. Patients with metastatic disease were treated with 6 cycles, while patients with locally advanced disease were treated with 4 cycles of induction chemotherapy followed by cystectomy or radiotherapy. The overall response rate was 40%, with 15% complete response (CR).

Splenic hamartoma: a case report.

A case of splenic hamartoma is presented that was incidentally discovered in a 55-year-old male during a work-up to determine the aetiology of hypertension. Diagnostic imaging procedures were suggestive of a splenic hamartoma. Histologically, this was found to be of the pulposal type with haemosiderin and calcification foci and many eosinophil leukocytes.

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in cancer patients.

Concern has been arisen about the recently reported increasing incidence of PCP in patients with cancer and the potential transmissibility of this infection. Whether or not there is an increase in the incidence of P. carinii infections, PCP should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates in bone marrow transplant recipients, in patients with hematologic neoplasms and in patients with primary or metastatic brain neoplasms.

Concomitant administration of 4-hydroxypyrazolopyrimidine (allopurinol) and high-dose continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil.

We tried to study the protection of allopurinol (HPP) from the toxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). A total of 29 patients received 74 cycles of chemotherapy (16 colon adenocarcinomas, 7 head and neck, 3 breast cancers and 3 cancers of pancreas). HPP was given 900 mg/day p.