0000000000390924
AUTHOR
Florena M
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…
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…
Etoposide, doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cisplatin regimen in advanced gastric adenocarcinoma: experience with a lower dose schedule
A phase II trial of etoposide (100 mg/m2) on days 4, 5, 6, doxorubicin (Adriamycin, 20 mg/m2) on days 1, 7, and cisplatin (30 mg/m2) on days 2, 8 (EAP) was carried out in order to reduce toxicity associated with a full-dose EAP regimen for advanced and/or metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. Out of 21 evaluable patients, 2 (10%) had a complete response (CR), 7 (33%) had a partial response (PR), 4 (20%) showed no change and 8 progressed (38%). The mean duration of response (CR+PR) was 8.4+ months. Survival of the whole group was 7.5+ months. Treatment was quite well tolerated by most patients on an outpatient basis. Grade 3 vomiting and leukopenia were seen in 30% and 35% of cases respectively…