Gan to kagaku ryoho. Cancer & chemotherapy
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Gan To Kagaku Ryoho · Jul 1999
Review[Combined multimodal therapy for osteosarcoma--neoadjuvant chemotherapy].
Until the 1970s, the survival rate of osteosarcoma patients was less than 20%. By the 1990s, this had improved to 60% to 70%, and limb-sparing procedures have replaced amputation in many patients thanks to effective combination therapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has become an accepted practice in the majority of institutions using protocols which include MTX, ADR, BCD and CDDP as the most active agents against this disease. ⋯ Although current treatment regimens allow effective salvage therapy for the patients with pulmonary metastases, the actuarial survival rate is 30%. A more effective systemic treatment for those patients is needed. The current management of osteosarcoma is critically reviewed and a treatment strategy is proposed for discussion.
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Gan To Kagaku Ryoho · Jul 1999
[A new anti-androgen, bicalutamide (Casodex), for the treatment of prostate cancer--basic clinical aspects].
Bicalutamide (Casodex) has been approved as a new option for the treatment of prostate cancer. It is a new non-steroidal anti-androgen synthesized by the British company Zeneca. In pharmacological studies using rats and other subjects, the product showed excellent affinity with androgen receptors and was found to be anti-androgen active and effective against tumors, and so clinical trials have begun. ⋯ Moreover, it can be administered in a once-daily dose, which is expected to improve patient compliance. In a late Phase II study in Japan, a response rate as high as 64.4% was achieved when bicalutamide was administered alone. The potential for bicalutamide to be used alone is important because of the growing emphasis on patient quality of life and sexual function in prostate cancer therapy.