Biomedical subjects

R Sylvester

Publications and source records attributed to R Sylvester.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Assessment of estrogenic recruitment before chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer: a double-blind randomized study. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Breast Cancer Cooperative Group.

PURPOSE: In the present phase III study, the specific effect of estrogenic recruitment was assessed by comparing two groups of patients with advanced breast cancer receiving either ethinylestradiol (EE2) or placebo (PL) before chemotherapy (CT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The therapeutic regimen consisted of (1) estrogen suppression by aminoglutethimide (AGL) 1 g/d plus hydrocortisone (HC) 40 mg/d, with surgical castration performed on premenopausal patients; (2) fluorouracil (5-FU) 500 mg/m2, doxorubicin 50 mg/m2, and cyclophosphamide (CPA) 500 mg/m2 (FAC) intravenously (IV) every 3 weeks; (3) following randomization, patients were double-blinded to receive either PL or EE2 50 micrograms exactly 24 hours before receiving FAC. All patients had advanced breast cancer presumably sensitive to endocrine therapy (estrogen receptor-positive [ER+] and/or progesterone receptor-positive [PgR+] status) with measurable lesions; none had received prior systemic antineoplastic therapy for metastatic disease; prior adjuvant hormonal therapy (HT) or CT (without anthracyclines) was allowed if interval since completion was longer than 1 year. RESULTS: Among 154 patients treated according to the protocol, tolerance, response rates, time to progression, and median survival duration were identical in the PL and EE2 groups. Only performance status, dominant metastatic site, and menopausal status seemed to influence response (overall response, 64%), with the highest levels of partial remission (PR) and complete remission (CR) being achieved in premenopausal women (CR plus PR, 26% plus 55%) and in those with dominant soft tissue lesions (CR plus PR, 45% plus 28%). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the validity of the hormonal recruitment concept has not yet been established in clinical practice so that this approach remains experimental. The results achieved by combining (near) complete estrogenic suppression and cyclical FAC chemotherapy are not significantly different from those to be expected with the more conventional use of HT followed by CT in presumably hormone-responsive (ER+) patients.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

PubMed1993

Cyclophosphamide versus ifosfamide: a randomized phase II trial in adult soft-tissue sarcomas. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC], Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group.

Ifosfamide (5 g/m2) was compared with its parent analogue cyclophosphamide (1.5 g/m2) in a randomized phase II study. Both drugs were given by 24-h intravenous (i.v.) infusion every 3 weeks along with i.v. bolus infusions of mesna (400 mg/m2), which was given every 4 h for nine administrations. Eligibility criteria included an age of 15-75 years, biopsy-proven advanced metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma, and a World Health Organization performance status of 0-2. Exclusion criteria were prior treatment with classic alkylating agents, a creatinine level of > 150 mumol/l, a bilirubin level of > 20 mumol/l, a leukocyte cell count of < 3.5 x 10(9)/l, and a platelet count of < 100 x 10(9)/l. A total of 171 patients were entered, 24 of whom were ineligible and 12, inevaluable, leaving 135 patients evaluable. In all, 67 patients were treated with cyclophosphamide, and the overall response rate was 7.5%. All responders to cyclophosphamide were patients who had not received prior chemotherapy (13% of 38 patients). Another 68 patients were given ifosfamide, 18% of whom responded to treatment. Of the 28 ifosfamide-treated patients who had received prior chemotherapy, 7% were responders. The response rate for the remaining 40 patients was 25%. The higher overall response rate (P = 0.13) obtained with less myelosuppression in ifosfamide-treated patients suggests that this agent may have advantages over cyclophosphamide in combination therapy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Prognostic factors in bladder carcinoma: histologic parameters and expression of a cell cycle-related nuclear antigen (Ki-67).

A total of 316 biopsies from patients with bladder carcinoma who entered a trial of the genito-urinary group of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) were reviewed. The histological data were subsequently correlated with the clinical course. A strong correlation between the number of mitoses and the time of first recurrence, muscle invasion, and death was noted. Next the expression of Ki-67 in frozen sections from 49 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) and the DNA content of the tumour cells were determined. The frequency of Ki-67-positive tumour cells increased with tumour grade and stage. Grade II TCCs and superficially infiltrating TCCs showed a wide range of Ki-67 scores. There was a significant difference in Ki-67 score between non-infiltrating (Ta) and superficially infiltrating (T1) grade II TCCs. All DNA-aneuploid carcinomas but also 15 out of 36 DNA-diploid tumours contained more than 10 per cent Ki-67-positive cells. Only some of these tumours were DNA-aneuploid or -tetraploid. The results indicate that the number of Ki-67-positive cells in grade II tumours may be a useful aid in separating grade II TCCs with a favourable prognosis from those with a poor clinical outcome.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

PubMed1992

Factors influencing local relapse and survival and results of salvage treatment after breast-conserving therapy in operable breast cancer: EORTC trial 10801, breast conservation compared with mastectomy in TNM stage I and II breast cancer.

A (modified) radical mastectomy (RM) was compared with breast-conserving therapy (BCT) in stage I and stage II breast cancer patients. Treatment of the study arm comprised lumpectomy, axillary clearance and radiotherapy to the breast (50 Gy in 5 weeks external irradiation and a boost with iridium implant of 25 Gy). 902 patients were included. There were 734 TNM stage II patients. Patients with microscopically incomplete excision of the tumour were not excluded. After a median follow-up of 6 years, overall survival and local recurrence rates do not differ significantly between the two study arms. Actuarial survival at 8 years was 73% after RM and 71% after BCT; actuarial local recurrence at 8 years was 9% and 15%, respectively. In the mastectomy group tumour size did not affect local relapse, but after BCT the incidence of local recurrences was higher for tumours of 2-5 cm (16%) than for smaller tumours (7%) (at 8 years, P = 0.08). Results of salvage treatment for local recurrence so far were similar in both the BCT and the mastectomy group.

Aging↗

PubMed1992

Vinblastine in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: EORTC phase II trial 30882. The EORTC Genitourinary Group.

32 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) who had had no prior chemotherapy received vinblastine 0.15 mg/kg intravenously once weekly for 6 weeks, thereafter every second week, provided no major toxicity. Dose modifications were based on haematological and neurological side-effects. Only one complete response was observed among 26 evaluable patients (response rate: 4%; 95% confidence interval: 0-20%). 4 out of 29 patients developed grade 3 leukopenia. Grade 3 peripheral neurotoxicity was recorded in 2 patients. 2 patients had grade 3 alopecia. Vinblastine has no major significance on the clinical management of MRCC.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Adjuvant chemotherapy of recurrent superficial transitional cell carcinoma: results of a European organization for research on treatment of cancer randomized trial comparing intravesical instillation of thiotepa, doxorubicin and cisplatin. The European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer Genitourinary Group.

A total of 356 patients with recurrent superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder was entered in a randomized clinical trial to compare intravesical thiotepa, doxorubicin and cisplatin with respect to the recurrence rate and disease-free interval. After complete transurethral resection of all visible lesions, the drugs were administered weekly for 4 weeks and monthly for 11 months. The recurrence rates per year were 0.50 for thiotepa, 0.54 for doxorubicin and 0.58 for cisplatin. Of 266 patients (mean followup 41 months) 35 reported an increase in T category and 19 of them had distant metastases. No association between treatment and progression was noted. Thus, there is no difference among treatments with respect to efficacy. However, severe anaphylactic reactions were observed in the cisplatin arm and chemical cystitis was more frequently reported in patients who received doxorubicin.

Administration, Intravesical↗

PubMed1992

A European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer--Genitourinary Group phase 2 study of chemotherapy in stage T3-4N0-XM0 transitional cell cancer of the bladder: evaluation of clinical response.

From 1986 to 1990 the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer--Genitourinary Group conducted a phase 2 trial of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage T3-4N0-XM0 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. The objectives were to evaluate the clinical response in relation to the pathological response, and to measure the side effects of chemotherapy. Of 171 patients entered 136 were fully evaluable: 18% had clinical complete remissions, 36% had clinical partial remissions, 39% had no clinical remissions and 10% had unknown response. A selected subgroup of 76 patients underwent cystectomy after 2 or 4 courses of chemotherapy: 2 were not evaluable for pathological response because of preoperative radiotherapy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 16 had a pathological complete remission, 7 had a pathological partial remission and 51 had no pathological remission. Comparison of the clinical response or T category only after 2 courses of chemotherapy with the pathological response after 2 or 4 courses of chemotherapy showed that in a number of patients the disease status could be downstaged to pathological complete or partial remission by additional courses of chemotherapy. If the discrepancies between clinical and pathological responses, or between T and P categories, induced by further downstaging after additional chemotherapy were left out, it was shown that clinical complete and partial remissions were a heterogeneous group but nonresponders could be delineated with a 100% accuracy by clinical response evaluation and transurethral resection biopsy only. Furthermore it seems important to establish the number of chemotherapy courses to induce a maximal response of the primary tumor.

Adult↗

PubMed1992