Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
A multi-institutional phase II trial of a novel inpatient schedule of continuous interleukin-2 with interferon alpha-2b in advanced renal cell carcinoma: major durable responses in a less highly selected patient population.
A prospective multi-institutional phase II trial was undertaken to define the activity and toxicity of a unique decrescendo infusion of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in combination with interferon (IFN) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The identical regimen has shown promise in advanced melanoma. ⋯ This unique, reasonably well tolerated IL-2/IFN combination induced a modest response rate with a number of durable remissions. While the optimal IL-2-based regimen for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma remains elusive, the present regimen should attract considerable interest. This is based on tumor activity very similar to high dose IL-2 in a patient population not as carefully selected for optimal organ function.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Clinical determinants of survival in patients with 5-fluorouracil-based treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer: results of a multivariate analysis of 3825 patients.
Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer are usually offered systemic chemotherapy as palliative treatment. A multivariate analysis was performed in order to identify predictors and their constellation that allow a valid prediction of the outcome in patients treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based therapy. ⋯ Patients can be divided into at least three risk groups depending on the four baseline clinical parameters: performance status, WBC count, alkaline phosphatase and number of metastatic sites. Any molecular or biological marker should be validated against these clinical parameters and decisions for more or less intensive treatments may be studied separately in these three risk groups. Also, clinical trials should be stratified according to the three risk groups.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Current clinical trials for the treatment of advanced-stage Hodgkin's disease: BEACOPP.
The bleomycin-etoposide-doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide-vincristine-procarbazine-prednisone (BEACOPP) regimen was developed to investigate the potential of moderate dose escalation of conventional polychemotherapy to improve the unsatisfactory treatment results in advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Following pilot studies, the randomised trial HD 9 demonstrated that BEACOPP (baseline dose) attained superior failure-free survival to COPP/ABVD, and that dose escalation made a further marked improvement. Toxicity was severe but manageable. ⋯ The BEACOPP regimen is highly effective, and moderate dose escalation makes a further worthwhile improvement in tumour control. Current trials will measure BEACOPP against the international standard and show whether the amount of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy can be reduced.