0000000000286472
AUTHOR
G. Curto
Weekly Levofolinic Acid and 5-Fluorouracil Plus Hydroxyurea in Metastatic Gastrointestinal Adenocarcinomas
There were 42 patients with advanced gastrointestinal carcinomas (GA) enrolled in the study. In the Phase I part of the study we identified the MTD of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) in combination with levofolinic acid 100 mg/m2 per week intravenously plus hydroxyurea 1 g/m2 per week given by mouth in 3 refracted doses starting 6 hours after 5FU was administered. This treatment was given weekly for 6 consecutive weeks followed by a 15-day rest period. We were not able to increase 5FU weekly dosage above 700 mg/m2 due to the occurrence of grade 3-4 gastrointestinal toxicity. Thus 5FU was employed at 600 mg/m2 per week for the Phase II part of the study. Among 20 evaluable patients with measurable meta…
Subcutaneous octreotide versus oral loperamide in the treatment of diarrhea following chemotherapy
Forty patients with chemotherapy-related diarrhea were randomized to receive (i) octreotide 0.5 mg three times per day s.c. or (ii) loperamide 4 mg three times per day p.o. until complete remission of diarrhea was achieved. In the octreotide group 80% of patients showed complete resolution of loose bowel movements within 4 days of therapy, while in the loperamide group this goal was obtained in only 30% of cases (p < 0.001). If after 4 days no benefit was seen, patients were considered to have failed antidiarrheal therapy. Failure was recorded in only one case (5%) treated with s.c. octreotide and in five patients (25%) who received loperamide. The mean duration of antidiarrheal therapy nec…
A prospective evaluation of the activity of human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor on the prevention of chemotherapy-related neutropenia in patients with advanced carcinoma
After informed consent, 86 patients with advanced cancer undergoing potentially myelosuppressive cytotoxic chemotherapy were randomized to receive placebo or subcutaneous granulocyte - colony stimulating factor (G- CSF) 5 μg/Kg/day in order to prevent severe neutropenia and its related morbidity. The incidence of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count <1, 000/mm3) was significantly reduced in patients receiving G-CSF than in controls (18% versus 42%; P <0.05). The duration of neutropenia was also shortened by the administration of G-CSF (4.8 versus 8.2 days; P <0.05). Therapy with G-CSF has also a positive impact on the dose-intensity of employed regimens. Patients treated with G-CSF showed…
Environmental Risk Factors in Superficial Bladder Cancer
As a preliminary approach to define the object of larger case-control studies, the distribution of potential risk factors coming from environmental pollution among patients affected by superficial bladder cancer (TCCB) has been analyzed. Material e Methods. The analysis included only patients affected by medium risk superficial TCCB. Forty Italian urological centres joined the study. Detailed information about age, sex, residency, employment, active and passive cigarette smoking, water resource, hair-dye use were centralized. All patients underwent TUR and early intravesical chemotherapy. The distribution of the above mentioned environmental factors was related to tumor characteristics suc…
Combination chemotherapy of 5-fluorouracil, epidoxorubicin and mitomycin C in the palliative treatment of locally advanced and/or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the stomach
Thirty-seven consecutive patients with advanced and/or metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma received a combination of 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 29, 36; epidoxorubicin 75 mg/m2 i.v. on days 1, 29; mitomycin C 10 mg/m2 i.v. on day 1. This cycle was repeated every 8 weeks. Out of a total of 34 evaluable patients, 2 (5.8%) had a complete response and 7 (20.6%) had a partial response with an overall median duration of 40 weeks (range 20-128). The median survival of responding patients was not reached after a mean follow-up of 76 weeks, while that of patients with no change and progressive disease was reached at 36 and 13 weeks respectively. Treatment was generally well tolerated with h…
ELF regimen in advanced gastrointestinal malignancies: An analysis of its clinical effectiveness and toxicity
A multi-institutional phase 11 study of the combination of levofolinic acid 100 mg/m2, VP16 120 mg/m2 and 5-fluorouracil 500 mg/m2 for 3 consecutive days was carried out on a series of 73 evaluable patients with low performance status affected by locally advanced and/or metastatic gastrointestinal carcinomas. Site of primary tumor were: stomach 26, large bowel 20, pancreas 16, gall-bladder 5, and liver 6. Among patients with gastric carcinoma, 2 patients (8%) had a complete response with a mean duration of 6.8+ months, and 9 (35%) had a partial response with a mean duration of 5.8+ months, for an overall response rate of 43%. Overall response rate was largely unsatisfactory in colorectal ca…
Management of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia in southern Italy: a retrospective analysis of the Sicilian-Calabrian Society of Urology (SSCU) of 32,000 patients.
<i>Introduction:</i> The availability of new pharmacological and surgical options is responsible for important changes in the management of symptomatic benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). The Sicilian-Calabrian Society of Urology performed a retrospective survey to assess the management of BPH in southern Italy in 1997 and 1998. <i>Patients and Methods:</i> A 3-page questionnaire was sent to the 36 urological units of these two regions. The real number of patients treated was required. The numbers were checked with data obtained from the Health Regional Offices. <i>Results:</i> Twenty-six urological units (72.3%) replied. Almost all patients underwent urin…