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Biomedical subjects

H Mameghan

Publications and source records attributed to H Mameghan.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Invasive bladder cancer. Prognostic factors and results of radiotherapy with and without cystectomy.

We report the results and complications of treatment in 205 patients with nonmetastatic invasive bladder cancer. Between 1977 and 1982 there were 3 treatment groups: palliative radiotherapy, radical radiotherapy, and pre-operative radiotherapy followed by total cystectomy. Data were complete on each patient until the end of 1985 (minimum follow-up 3 years, median 5.6), when 48 patients were alive without evidence of bladder cancer and 28 had died of intercurrent illness (without clinical evidence of bladder cancer). The overall actuarial 5-year survival rate (death from any cause) was 24%. The 5-year survival rates were 13% for group 1, 25% for group 2 and 38% for group 3. Group 1 patients had a significantly shorter survival. The difference between groups 2 and 3 was not statistically significant. The prognostic factors of significance for survival were clinical stage and ureteric obstruction. Factors such as age, tumour grade and multiplicity were significant when examined singly but not in a multivariate analysis which included stage and ureteric obstruction. The actuarial incidence of all radiotherapy complications in bladder and bowel was 9.4 and 10.5% respectively.

Adult↗

Response of melanoma to heat and radiation therapy--a review of the literature and experience from The Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney.

Our review of the literature indicates that radiotherapy and/or heat therapy can provide local control of recurrent or metastatic melanoma in a large proportion of patients. This has undoubted value in the local palliation of symptoms and, in the absence of disseminated disease, can be curative. At The Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, we have studied the response of melanoma lesions to heat and radiation therapy and have assessed the reaction in the adjacent normal skin. Thirty-two melanoma lesions that were measurable in 12 patients received radiotherapy and heat therapy in different combinations and dose schedules (15 lesions received radiotherapy alone, six lesions received heat therapy alone, and 11 lesions received combined radiation and heat therapy). The acute normal skin reaction was compared between lesions that received single modality radiation or heat therapy and those that received the combination of heat and radiation therapy. A moderate or severe reaction developed at six of the 21 sites that were treated by a single modality, and at four of the 11 sites that received combined heat and radiation therapy (P = 0.7), and all healed within a few days. Evaluation of the melanoma response to therapy was possible only in 26 of the 32 lesions that were treated because two patients died soon after therapy and the response of their six lesions was not evaluable. A complete response occurred in 14 (54%) of 26 lesions and a partial response occurred in 10 (38%) of 26 lesions. The objective response by treatment modality was 10 of 15 lesions for radiotherapy, six of six lesions for heat therapy and eight of 11 lesions for both therapies combined. We conclude that radiotherapy and heat therapy, separately or combined, produce acceptably-low damage to normal tissue and highly-satisfactory local control of melanoma.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗

Pre-emptive (neo-adjuvant) chemotherapy prior to radical radiotherapy for fit septuagenarians with bladder cancer: age itself is not a contra-indication.

Advanced age has often been cited as a contra-indication to the use of cytotoxic chemotherapy or aggressive combined treatment regimens. Fifteen patients, aged between 70 and 79 years (mean 73.1), have been treated for high grade, invasive bladder cancer using neoadjuvant intravenous cisplatin (80-100 mg/m2) plus radical radiotherapy (60 Gy in 6 weeks). Objective response was achieved in 14 patients. The median survival was 22 months, with 6 patients surviving 3 years or longer. Acute and late side effects were not excessive (no cases of W.H.O. grade IV toxicity), as demonstrated by clinical examination and the use of questionnaires (including linear analogue self-assessment scales) to assess quality of life. This aggressive treatment programme can achieve a high remission rate and prolonged survival in elderly patients with high risk bladder cancer without causing excessive morbidity.

Acute Disease↗

Bone-marrow transplantation for haematological malignancy in childhood.

Twenty-three children with haematological malignancies and a poor prognosis underwent bone-marrow transplantation. Thirteen children had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, eight had acute nonlymphoblastic leukaemia, one had chronic myeloid leukaemia and one had malignant histiocytosis. One child was in relapse at the time of transplant and 22 were in first or subsequent remission. Before transplantation all patients received cyclophosphamide (60 mg/kg) on two consecutive days followed by total body irradiation given as a single dose of 10 Gy at 0.18 Gy/min (one patient) or 0.07 Gy/min (three patients), or as a fractionated dose of 10-12 Gy at 0.07-0.1 Gy/min (19 patients). One child with malignant histiocytosis also received two doses of etoposide (5 mg/kg). Methotrexate was given after transplantation to prevent or modify graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). One patient who received a transplant in relapse died early from overwhelming bacterial sepsis. Twenty-two patients engrafted, and of these 11 developed acute GVHD; five developed chronic GVHD; seven developed interstitial pneumonitis, with four deaths; and five relapsed between three and 12 months after transplantation, with three deaths. Fifty-nine per cent (13/22) of patients who received a transplant during remission remain in continuous complete remission and 68% (15/22) have survived for a median of 18 months (range, four to 73 months). Bone-marrow transplantation that is undertaken during remission of disease offers a prolonged disease-free survival in selected childhood malignancies.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

Bone marrow transplantation for malignant histiocytosis in childhood.

This report describes a girl who was diagnosed with malignant histiocytosis at the age of 5 years. The disease was controlled initially with chemotherapy for 3 years and had then recurred with meningeal involvement on three occasions. Four years and 8 months from diagnosis, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was undertaken from an HLA-identical and mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) nonreactive brother after conditioning with VP-16-213 5 mg/kg/day X 2, cyclophosphamide 60 mg/kg/day X 2, and total body irradiation 200 rad twice daily to a total dose of 1000 rad delivered at 7 rad/minute. At the time of transplant, the disease was in remission. Currently, more than 48 months after the transplant, the child remains free of disease, with a normally functioning donor marrow and with no evidence of graft versus host disease. This is the first recorded case of BMT in the treatment of malignant histiocytosis. The outcome in this patient in late-stage disease suggests that BMT could be considered early in management as definitive therapy.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

Initial intravenous cis-platinum therapy: improved management for invasive high risk bladder cancer?

Between August 1981 and December 1983, 50 patients with invasive high risk bladder cancer were treated initially with 100 mg. per m.2 cis-platinum intravenously in 2 doses with a 3-week interval, which was followed by definitive treatment (radiotherapy and/or cystectomy). High risk disease was defined on the basis of at least 2 of the following: invasion into or beyond the muscle (stages B2 to D1), grade III histology, large tumors and ureteral obstruction. Major symptomatic improvement was noted in 38 patients (76 per cent) after 1 to 2 doses of cis-platinum and 30 (60 per cent) had an objective response to cis-platinum. An objective response (complete or partial remission) was noted in 43 patients (86 per cent) after cis-platinum plus definitive treatment. The 12-month actuarial survival was 86 per cent and the 2-year actuarial survival was 80 per cent (although only 14 patients were entered in the study more than 2 years ago). The protocol was well tolerated, with nausea and vomiting being the most common side effects. There were no deaths related to treatment. Ten patients (20 per cent) died of cancer. The relevance of initial cis-platinum therapy in this management program is now being evaluated in a multicenter randomized trial.

Adult↗

Radiation hepatitis following moving strip radiotherapy.

A 71 year-old woman developed acute veno-occlusive disease of the liver after receiving moving strip radiotherapy to the whole abdomen according to the Toronto technique for carcinoma of the ovary. The dose of 22.5 Gy in 10 fractions to the liver is compared with other regimens which have produced this complication, and factors which may have sensitized the liver to irradiation are considered.

Aged↗