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Biomedical subjects

J D Bitran

Publications and source records attributed to J D Bitran.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Response to secondary therapy in patients with adenocarcinoma of the breast previously treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.

The response to secondary therapy, chemotherapy or hormonal, is examined in 26 patients with adenocarcinoma of breast who failed adjuvant chemotherapy. Response rates to tamoxifen or combination chemotherapy, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-FU (CMF) or Adriamycin and vincristine (AV) were similar to response rates reported for Stage IV patients, never exposed to cytotoxic agents. Survivals in these 26 patients were similar to those reported for Stage IV patients never exposed to cytotoxics. It is concluded that adjuvant chemotherapy does not lessen future response to secondary therapies or decrease survival.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Multimodality therapy of stage III adenocarcinoma of the breast.

The results of a pilot multimodality program (surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy) are reported in 34 women with advanced stage III and IV adenocarcinoma of the breast. The median relapse-free survival for all patients was 24 months, with 74% of the premenopausal patients and 37% of the postmenopausal alive at five years (P = 0.18). The relapse rate was significantly lower in premenopausal patients when compared to the postmenopausal subgroup. Estrogen receptor status was not predictive for relapse or survival.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Lack of efficacy of vinblastine and cisplatin in patients with progressive small cell carcinoma of the lung.

Twenty patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung resistant to primary therapy, or relapsing after an objective response to initial treatment, were treated with vinblastine plus high-dose cisplatin chemotherapy. One patient achieved a partial remission lasting 4 months, while 19 patients had no objective response to this regimen. The median survival from the time of disease progression to death was 2.5 months (range, 1-7), with an overall median survival of 13 months (range, 5-31; diagnosis to death). In our patients, vinblastine plus cisplatin given as salvage therapy did not produce a significant response rate or survival prolongation.

Adult↗

Acute nephrotoxicity following cis-dichlorodiammine-platinum.

The effects of a single dose of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (DDP) on the kidney function were investigated in 14 patients with disseminated malignancy and normal renal function. A single dose of DDP (30-50 mg/m2) caused severe proximal tubular dysfunction with increased urinary losses of calcium, magnesium, and amino acids. Phosphate excretion was not affected. DDP can cause proximal tubular dysfunction and close attention must be paid to serum calcium and magnesium levels.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Prognostic factors in patients with non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma and brain metastases.

Prognostic factors were examined in 38 patients with nonsmall cell lung carcinoma and brain metastases. The most important factors were the response to total therapy (corticosteroids, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy) and the presence of brain metastases alone; these factors had the most impact on survival. Age, sex, histologic type of lung cancer, and initial performance status were not prognostically important. Our results indicate that certain subgroups of patients with nonsmall cell lung carcinoma and brain metastases have a favorable prognosis and should be treated aggressively.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Prognostic value of the estrogen receptor level in pathologic stage I and II adenocarcinoma of the breast.

The relationship between estrogen receptor levels and recurrence of breast cancer was examined in 302 patients with adenocarcinoma of the breast, pathologic stage (PS) I and II. All 117 patients with PS II adenocarcinoma of the breast received adjunctive chemotherapy. In this series, there was no association between the estrogen receptor level and recurrence in either the 185 patients with PS I adenocarcinoma of the breast or the 117 patients with PS II adenocarcinoma of the breast. The most important prognostic variable was the presence or absence of axillary metastases.

Adenocarcinoma↗

VP16-213 in combined modality treatment of small cell carcinoma of the lung.

Thirty-four previously untreated patients with histologically proven small cell carcinoma of the lung were treated with a combined modality therapy program that incorporated VP16-213, an epipodophyllotoxin derivative, into the chemotherapy regimen. Initial therapy for two cycles was with V-CAM, VP16-213, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and methotrexate. Following two cycles of V-CAM each patient received radiation therapy consisting of 4000 rads to the primary site, both hila and the mediastinum, as well as 2000 rads as prophylaxis to the whole brain. After a one-week rest period the patients received monthly cycles of V-CAM until death. Of 10 patients with stage IIIM0 disease, 7 had a complete response (CR), 1 a partial response (PR) and 2 had progressive disease. The median survival was still not reached by approximately 18 months. Of 24 patients with supraclavicular and/or metastatic disease there were only 5 patients with a CR, 11 with a PR and 8 with progressive disease. Their median survival was approximately 9 months. The 70% overall response rate and 9.3-month median survival of the entire group are essentially the same results as those in previously reported studies. There appears to be no additional benefit when VP16-213 is incorporated into our combined modality program.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Sequential scintigraphic staging of small cell carcinoma.

Thirty patients with small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung were sequentially staged following a history and physical exam with liver, bran, bone, and gallium-67 citrate scans. Scintigraphic evaluation disclosed 7 of 30 patients (23%) with advanced disease, stage IIIM1. When Gallium-67 scans were used as the sole criteria for staging, they proved to be accurate and identified six of the seven patients with occult metastatic disease. Gallium-67 scans proved to be accurate in detecting thoracic and extrathoracic metastases in the 30 patients with SCC, especially within the liver and lymph node-bearing area. The diagnostic accuracy of gallium-67 fell in regions such as bone or brain. Despite the limitations of gallium-67 scanning, the authors conclude that these scans are useful in staging patients with SCC and should be the initial scans used in staging such patients.

Aged↗

Diffuse histiocytic lymphoma with sclerosis: a clinicopathologic entity frequently causing superior venacaval obstruction.

Of 107 patients with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma (DHL) seen at the University of Chicago, 14 (13%) were classified as having moderate to marked sclerosis. Three of the 14 (21%) had predominantly retroperitoneal masses. Fifty percent of our group, however, had bulky disease seen predominantly or exclusively in the mediastinum, and all of these individuals had superior venacaval (SVC) obstruction. Of the seven patients with SVC syndrome, three were in Pathologic Stage IIA, three were in Clinical Stage II, and only one was in Clinical Stage IIIA. No other patients with DHL displayed SVC obstruction or predominantly mediastinal disease. Five of seven patients with SVC syndrome had large cleaved cell histology. In spite of an apparently favorable histopathologic subtype and a tendency to localized involvement, patients with DHL and sclerosis who have bulky or disseminated disease appear to be resistant to megavoltage radiotherapy alone and relatively resistant to combination chemotherapy.

Adult↗

Intracavitary bleomycin for the control of malignant effusions.

The results of treatment with intracavitary bleomycin are reported in twenty patients with a malignant pleural effusion and five patients with malignant ascites. The control rate was 17/20 (85%) patients with malignant pleural effusions and 3/5 (60%) patients with malignant ascites. Toxicities were minimal with fever being the most common side effect in four patients (16%. Bleomycin is an effective and nontoxic sclerosing agent.

Adult↗

Small-cell carcinoma of the lung: a five-year experience with combined modality therapy.

In the past five years, we have treated 89 patients with small-cell carcinoma of the lung with radiotherapy plus one of three chemotherapy programs. The 24 patients with disease confined to the chest (Stage IIIMO) had an 87% response rate to the combined modalities (79% complete responses) and a median survival of 18 months; 13 patients with disease confined to the chest and ipsilateral supraclavicular nodes (Stage IIIMOSCN +) had an 84% response rate (69% complete responses) and 11-month median survival; the 52 patients with distant metastases (Stage IIIMI) had a 71% response rate (15% complete responses) and eight-month median survival. Survival was not affected by adding prophylactic cranial irradiation to the latest regimen, although the CNS relapse rate was reduced. We conclude that our three chemotherapy programs to date differ very little in their effect on survival of patients with metastatic disease. New and more vigorous approaches, possibly including surgery, need to be tested for the management of disease confined to the chest. The designation of patients as Stage IIIMOSCN + is valid because such patients have better survival rates than patients with distant metastatic disease.

Adult↗

The predictive value of serial bone scans in assessing response to chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer.

A retrospective analysis was made of 25 patients with breast cancer treated only with chemotherapy in order to determine the predictive value of technetium-99m bone scanning in determining response to chemotherapy. Whole-body scanning demonstrated bone healing in only 3 of 25 patients. However, the presence of stable disease on bone scan correlated with a good prognosis as 12 patients with stable scans had a significantly longer survival time than did the 13 patients who showed progression on scans (17.7 and 7.8 months, respectively P less than 0.01 greater than 0.005, Wilcoxan). Our analysis indicates that bone scans are a relatively crude technique for monitoring response to chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.

Adult↗

Gallium-67 citrate imaging studies of the lung.

In spite of localization of gallium in the lungs in a large variety of inflammatory pulmonary diseases, the chest radiograph is and will continue to be the principal diagnostic tool for evaluation of pulmonary inflammatory disease. The 67Ga-citrate scan, however, serves as a study complementary to chest radiography because it indicates the extent, localization, and degree of activity of the inflammatory disease with greater accuracy than do the radiographic studies. It also permits the physician to follow progression of the disease or response to treatment and possible to detect disseminated interstitial disease not visualized on radiographs. Gallium-67 scanning may be used in the evaluation of patients with lymphorecticular neoplasms (Hodgkin's disease and malignant lymphomas) both during initial staging and in evaluation of the response to therapy. The 67Ga-citrate scan is useful in the evaluation of patients with lung cancer provided its limitations are kept in mind. It cannot and should not replace the pathologist's microscope. The scan is useful as a screening test only in patients who have radiographic lesions not consistent with inflammatory disease and in whom invasive diagnostic procedures or exploratory surgery are contraindicated unless the probability of detecting a resectable tumor is high. However, the limited resolution of the scanning system restricts the possibility of detecting lesions before they become radiographically visible. The histologic type of the lesion appears to have no effect on the probability of detection. As a noninvasive procedure, the 67Ga-citrate scan complements mediastinoscopy by indicating which lymph nodes should be biopsied. It is also useful in evaluation of the controlateral hilar node region. The scan frequently detects clinically unsuspected extrathoracic lesions. It may therefore be a useful initial procedure in guiding the work-up of the patient with a known or strongly suspected tumor. The combination of the 67Ga scan with the chest radiograph could provide the information necessary for presurgical clinical staging in patients who have no symptoms that suggest distant metastases. Gallium-67 scans may be useful in indicating the effectiveness of treatment and the sensitivity of a tumor to radiation.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate with leucovorin rescue, and cytarabine (COMLA) combination sequential chemotherapy for advanced diffuse histiocytic lymphoma.

A program of combination sequential chemotherapy using cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate with leucovorin rescue, and cytarabine (COMLA) was administered to 42 previously untreated patients with advanced diffuse histiocytic lymphoma. Twenty-three patients achieved a complete remission as determined by strict clinical restaging criteria. The observed median duration of survival for the complete responders is longer than 33 months. Eight patients achieved a partial response, with a median survival longer than 21 months. Eleven patients showed no response, with a median survival of 5 months. Toxicity was acceptable. None of the responders have shown central nervous system relapse. There was no difference in response rates between patients with stage III or IV lymphoma or between asymptomatic or symptomatic patients. The COMLA program produces a high rate of complete and durable remissions and should be considered as an initial form of management of patients with advanced diffuse histiocytic lymphoma.

Adolescent↗