Cancer treatment reports
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Cancer treatment reports · Sep 1985
Combination of dacarbazine and doxorubicin in the treatment of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma.
The combination of dacarbazine and doxorubicin was given to 26 children with untreated rhabdomyosarcoma to determine its efficacy as front-line chemotherapy. A treatment course consisted of 250 mg/m2 of dacarbazine given iv on Days 1-5 and 60 mg/m2 of doxorubicin given iv on Day 1. ⋯ The side effects of treatment consisted of nausea, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, neutropenia associated with fever, mucositis, and thrombocytopenia (rarely). Although the response rate is comparable to other drug combinations, the lack of complete responses to the combination indicates that it is less effective as front-line therapy.
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Cancer treatment reports · Jul 1985
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialAction of oral methylprednisolone in terminal cancer patients: a prospective randomized double-blind study.
A 14-day, randomized, double-blind crossover trial was carried out comparing an oral glucocorticoid, methylprednisolone (MP), against placebo for the relief of pain and other symptoms in 40 terminally ill cancer patients. After the 14-day, double-blind phase was completed, all patients were given MP for 20 days. The daily dose of MP was 32 mg, and end points of the study were pain, psychiatric status, appetite, nutritional status, daily activity, and performance. ⋯ MP was preferred over placebo by 23 of the 31 patients (74%), and, in 22 of the 31 cases (71%), the investigator chose MP over placebo. No serious toxicity was found at the dose of MP used. It is concluded that MP increases the comfort of terminally ill cancer patients.
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Cancer treatment reports · Apr 1985
Failure of scalp hypothermia to prevent hair loss when cyclophosphamide is added to doxorubicin and vincristine.
Scalp hypothermia can prevent alopecia caused by low doses of doxorubicin alone or in simple combinations. The technique was used in 60 patients with breast cancer (24 receiving adjuvant therapy; 36 with advanced recurrent disease) receiving chemotherapy with iv doxorubicin (40 mg/m2) and vincristine (1.4 mg/m2) on Day 1 together with oral cyclophosphamide (200 mg/m2) on Days 2-5. ⋯ All patients were rated as having poor hair retention. Scalp hypothermia is ineffective when used with combinations of drugs, each causing alopecia, or with high doses of doxorubicin.