Twenty-four previously treated patients with refractory or relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were entered into a prospective, multicenter phase II study. All 24 patients had been pretreated with some form of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The median time of chemotherapy was 4.2 months (range 1.4-9.4 months). Patients were treated with a dose of 25 mg/m2 of vinorelbine weekly. Twenty-four patients were eligible for response and for toxicity. Partial response was observed in 3 out of 24 eligible patients (12.5%; 95% confidence interval, 2.7-32.4%). All 3 patients who responded had previous chemotherapy including vincristine. The most common toxicity was leukopenia (91.7%, 66.7% in WHO 3-4 grade) and anemia (70.8%, 20.8% in WHO 3 grade). Nonhematological toxicities were moderate and mild. These results support a two-state sequential study design of previously untreated patients for further phase II study in SCLC.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Electron microscopic studies on ATPase activities in myocardial infarction.

Comparative studies of the fine structural changes and histochemical examination of adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity were performed in canine ischemic heart muscle cells following left coronary artery ligation. In the intact myocardial cells, the ATPase activities were observed most intensely in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), particularly in the terminal cisternae (TC), and moderately around gap junctions of the intercalated discs and on myofilaments. Ischemic cellular changes occurred three to 24 hours after coronary ligation and became severe after three to seven days. ATPase activities decreased at around 48 hours and also became weak at three to seven days. Two to three weeks after ligation, improvement of the fine structure and increase in ATPase activities were observed in the ischemic cells, suggesting recovery. ATPase activities in the ischemic cardiac cells appeared to be decreased in parallel with the process of the fine structural changes.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Phase I study with cell wall skeleton of Nocardia rubra.

Toxicity of the cell wall skeleton of Nocardia rubra (N-CWS) was evaluated in 60 patients with lung cancer, leukemia, and malignant melanoma who were given the agent intratumorally, intrapleurally, and intradermally in doses of 100-2000 micrograms. Fever was the most common toxic effect and was more frequent after intratumoral and intrapleural doses than after intradermal doses. The other predominant reaction was skin lesions such as erythema, induration, and abscess at the injection sites.

Abscess↗