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R Wittes

Publications and source records attributed to R Wittes.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

cis-Dichlorodiammineplatinum(II)-based chemotherapy as initial treatment of advanced head and neck cancer.

During the past 2--3 years, a total of 73 patients with advanced head and neck cancer (mostly stage IV) were treated with cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (cis-platinum) as initial therapy, either alone or in combination with other agents. After chemotherapy, the patients received surgery and/or radiation therapy in standard fashion. Major degrees of tumor regression were seen in 40%--71% of the patients. cis-Platinum and bleomycin given by infusion gave the highest response rate (71%). The addition of high-dose methotrexate to cis-platinum plus bleomycin produced an unacceptable level of toxicity. Similarly, a four-drug regimen in which low-dose methotrexate and vinblastine were added to cis-platinum and bleomycin resulted in increased toxicity without additional therapeutic effect. Initial chemotherapy does not compromise subsequent surgery or increase either the immediate complications of surgery or the acute toxicity of radiation therapy. It seems unlikely that initial chemotherapy has altered the grim prognosis of an advanced, inoperable presentation. The effect of initial chemotherapy on advanced, operable disease will have to be assessed by suitable controlled trials.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Investigational trials of anticancer drugs: establishing safeguards for experimentation.

The National Cancer Institute since 1955 has been charged with responsibility for discovering new anti-cancer agents and bringing them to clinical trial. These activities are carried out by NCI's Developmental Therapeutics Program, which has established systems for discovery, experimental testing, bulk synthesis, formulation, and toxicological testing of candidate drugs, and by the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, which conducts initial trials to establish safe doses of new agents and to determine their utility in treating specific forms of cancer. These clinical trials are conducted both at NCI in Bethesda, Md., and at selected cancer centers throughout the United States. This paper describes the safeguards that NCI has built into the clinical trials system in the past decade-safeguards that ensure the safety of patients and the accuracy of data collected and at the same time allow efficient testing of each promising new agent in the fight against cancer. Recent improvements in cancer survival leave little doubt that patients are indeed benefiting from extensive efforts to discover and develop new drugs for cancer treatment.

Antineoplastic Agents↗