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T S Herman

Publications and source records attributed to T S Herman.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

A phase I-II trial of cisplatin, hyperthermia and radiation in patients with locally advanced malignancies.

A Phase I-II trial testing the addition of systemic cisplatin (CDDP) to local hyperthermia and radiation was conducted to determine the dose of cisplatin that is tolerable once weekly for 6 weeks and to estimate the therapeutic potential of this trimodality combination in patients with locally advanced malignancies. Cisplatin at 20 mg/m2 (4 patients), 30 mg/m2 (8 patients), and 40 mg/m2 (12 patients) was given rapidly (over 5-10 min) i.v. after prehydration with 1 liter of normal saline. After approximately two-thirds of the cisplatin dose had been delivered, microwave hyperthermia was begun and continued for 60 min; the target minimum tumor temperature was 43 degrees C. Following hyperthermia, a 400 cGy fraction of radiation was delivered to the tumor. On other days during the treatment weeks, additional 200 cGy fractions were given to total doses of 6,000-6600 cGy in patients with full radiation tolerance or 2400-3600 cGy in patients with limited radiation tolerance. The 24 patients in this trial had a median age of 57 years and the predominant sites/tumor types were head and neck/squamous cell carcinoma (9) and chest wall/breast adenocarcinoma (9). Seventeen of the 24 treated tumors (70%) had previously been irradiated. Eighteen patients (75%) had received prior chemotherapy and nine patients (38%) had previously been treated with cisplatin. Bone marrow suppression was dose limiting in patients heavily pretreated with chemotherapy and chest wall radiation. No significant toxicities were observed at the 20 and 30 mg/m2 dose levels, but 5 of the 12 patients (42%) treated at 40 mg/m2 required modification of the cisplatin dose because of blood count suppression in four patients and mild renal dysfunction in one patient. Each of the patients with bone marrow suppression, however, had been heavily pretreated except for one patient with thrombocytopenia due to hypersplenism. Nausea and vomiting were mild with use of a standard, multiagent antiemetic regimen. Twelve patients (50%) attained a complete regression (CR) and 12 patients (50%) a partial regression (PR). Complete regression appeared to correlate with small tumor volumes (115 cc for CR versus 199 cc for PR patients) and higher tumor temperatures (4.6 average minimum equivalent minutes at 43 degrees C in CR versus 2.0 min in PR patients). Local toxicities included second degree burns in 12 patients (50%) and third degree burns in 6 (25%), but all burns healed in 4-12 weeks without surgical intervention.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗

Platinum-dye complexes inhibit repair of potentially lethal damage following bleomycin treatment.

Several new complexes of platinum with positively charged cellular dyes have been synthesised in an effort to find chemotherapeutic drugs with increased antitumour cytotoxicity. As part of this effort, the direct cytotoxicities of some of these complexes as well as their ability to inhibit bleomycin potentially lethal damage repair (PLDR) was studied in vitro in a squamous cancer cell line of human origin (SCC-25). All of the new agents were more cytotoxic against exponentially growing than against plateau phase cell cultures. Exposure of cells to non-lethal drug concentrations for between 1 and 6 h led to measurable inhibition of bleomycin PLDR in the case of each drug tested. In order of decreasing ability to inhibit bleomycin PLDR, Pt(fast black)2, Pt(thioflavin)2 and Pt(thionin)2 were more effective than CDDP, while Pt(methylene blue)2, Pt(Rh-123)2 and Pt(pyronin Y)2 were less effective. The most directly cytotoxic agents were Pt(thioflavin)2, Pt(pyronin Y)2 and Pt(Rh-123)2 which also proved to be the least selectively toxic drugs towards exponential versus plateau phase cells. These results indicate that several of the new platinum complexes may be effective cytotoxic agents as well as effective inhibitors of DNA repair process following exposure of cells to other DNA interactive modalities.

Bleomycin↗

Interaction of platinum(II) tetrachlorodianion (Fast Black)2 with superhelical DNA and with radiation in vitro and in vivo.

A new complex of tetrachloroplatinum(II) and the azoic diazo dye, Fast Black K, Pt(Fast Black)2, was made in an attempt to produce an uncharged molecule which could readily gain access into cells and could bring a high concentration of tetrachloroplatinum into the vicinity of the DNA. Even the lowest concentration of Pt(Fast Black)2 tested in the superhelical pBR322 plasmid DNA assay in vitro completely converted the superhelical DNA to the circular and linear forms by 24 h. When the cytotoxicity of the Pt(Fast Black)2 and Fast Black were tested in exponentially growing EMT6 cells. Pt(Fast Black)2 was slightly more toxic to normally oxygenated than to hypoxic cells at pH 7.40, but was far more toxic to cells at pH 6.45 with no difference based on cellular oxygenation. Fast Black was much less toxic than Pt(Fast Black)2 and its cytotoxicity was unaffected by pH. Pt(Fast Black)2 had a small radiosensitizing effect on hypoxic EMT6 cells with a dose-modifying factor of 1.3, but exposure to the drug entirely removed the shoulder region on the radiation survival curves for both the oxygenated and hypoxic cells. In contrast, Fast Black reduced the shoulder in hypoxic but not in oxygenated cells. When Pt(Fast Black)2 (500 mg/kg), Fast Black (300 mg/kg) (the maximally tolerated dose), or misonidazole (1 g/kg) were given intraperitoneally 15 min prior to irradiation of FSaIIC tumors with 0, 10, 20, or 30 Gy, Pt(Fast Black)2 alone caused a tumor growth delay of 6 days versus 3 days for Fast Black. With radiation, Pt(Fast Black)2 produced the greatest enhancement in tumor growth delay of the drugs tested, especially at the lowest (10 Gy) radiation dose (i.e., in the in vivo "shoulder region"). These results indicate that Pt(Fast Black)2 may be suitable for clinical development because it causes both significant direct cytotoxicity and enhancement of radiation killing. The fact that its cytotoxicity is markedly increased at an acidic pH and its radiation enhancing effects are greatest in combination with relatively low single-fraction radiation doses make it especially interesting. The cytotoxicity of Pt(Fast Black)2 may be influenced by the tumor environment, and the radiosensitizing properties appear well suited for use with radiation fraction sizes that are employed in the clinic.

Animals↗

DNA interaction, cytotoxicity, and radiosensitization with PtCl4(Nile Blue)2 and PtCl4(Neutral Red)2.

Complexes of the positively charged, nuclear staining, quinone-imine dyes Nile Blue and Neutral Red with negatively charged tetrachloroplatinum (II) have been prepared in an effort to form neutral drugs which could gain ready access to the cellular nucleus and deliver significant quantities of the reactive tetrachloroplatinum anion to the vicinity of the DNA. Elemental analysis showed that both the Nile Blue and Neutral Red complexes with tetrachloroplatinum (II) comprised 2 mol of dye and 1 mol of tetrachloroplatinum, forming Pt(Nile Blue)2 and Pt(Neutral Red)2. Exposure of superhelical pBR322 DNA to the complexes or the dyes for 24 h followed by agarose gel electrophoresis showed that Neutral Red and Pt(Neutral Red)2 had little effect on DNA conformation, but that both Nile Blue and Pt(Nile Blue)2 could produce single-strand DNA breaks in a dose-dependent fashion. Studies in exponentially growing asynchronous, hypoxic, and normally oxygenated EMT6 cells at normal pH (7.40) and pH 6.45 demonstrated that neither dye was highly toxic, but that both complexes were capable of producing significant cytotoxicity. Both complexes killed normally oxygenated cells more efficiently than hypoxic cells, but Pt(Neutral Red)2 was more cytotoxic at pH 6.45, while Pt(Nile Blue)2 killed significantly more cells at normal pH. Both complexes decreased the survival of hypoxic EMT6 cells as indicated by the slope of the radiation survival curve [dose modifying factor (DMF) 2.90 for Pt(Nile Blue)2 and 1.45 for Pt(Neutral Red)2]. Studies with the FSaIIC murine tumor showed that both complexes were active radiosensitizing agents in vivo [DMF 1.76 for Pt(Nile Blue)2 and 1.25 for Pt(Neutral Red)2]. These results indicate that these new platinum complexes have characteristics which may make them and similar complexes effective radiosensitizing agents in humans.

Animals↗

Alphoid DNA nucleotide sequences from two human cell lines and the corresponding cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II)-resistant sublines.

In order to study the interaction between cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) and representative human DNA in a highly defined manner, alphoid sequence DNA was isolated from two human parental cancer lines (one of head and neck squamous cell origin, SCC-25, and one of breast carcinoma origin, MCF-7) as well as from three CDDP-resistant cell lines derived from the parental lines. The alphoid DNAs were then cloned and tested for homology with published consensus sequence results. Percent homology with the consensus sequence varied between 84.4% and 91.7% for all of the cloned alphoid DNA tested and there was no significant difference for parentally derived versus resistant subline derived alphoid DNA. These results suggest, as expected, that resistance to the mutagenic chemotherapeutic drug CDDP is not the result of a general alteration in DNA base sequence from guanine and adenine to cytosine and thymidine, which are less favorable binding sites. The highly defined, abundant alphoid sequence DNA should provide an excellent model for investigating the interaction between various DNA active drugs and human DNA.

Base Sequence↗

Combined modality therapy with bleomycin, hyperthermia, and radiation.

In an attempt to develop better combination therapies for use with local radiation, the interaction between bleomycin and hyperthermia +/- radiation was studied in the FSaIIC tumor system. In cells exposed in vitro to bleomycin at 37 degrees C and at pH 7.40, the drug was substantially more toxic toward normally oxygenated than hypoxic cells. At hyperthermic temperatures (42 degrees or 43 degrees C), however, the differential killing between the normally oxygenated and hypoxic cells disappeared and bleomycin became significantly more toxic. Exposure to bleomycin at pH 6.45 did not substantially alter the cytotoxicity of the drug at 42 degrees or 43 degrees C. In tumor growth delay experiments, combining bleomycin, hyperthermia, and radiation induced long delays, and the more successful sequences were bleomycin----radiation----hyperthermia or bleomycin----hyperthermia----radiation. If radiation was given prior to drug and hyperthermia, however, the sequence was significantly less effective. In tumor excision experiments performed 24 h after treatment, increasing doses of bleomycin produced a shallow, log-linear increase in tumor cell kill at 37 degrees C, but bleomycin followed by hyperthermia (43 degrees C, 30 min) led to about 1 log more cell killing. Administration of bleomycin just prior to treatment with a single dose of radiation was cytotoxically additive. In this assay the most effective trimodality treatment sequence was bleomycin----hyperthermia----radiation. In tumor subpopulations defined by Hoechst 33342 dye staining, bleomycin at 37 degrees C was about two-fold more toxic toward the bright (presumably well-oxygenated) cells than toward the dim (presumably hypoxic) cell subpopulation. The addition of hyperthermia following bleomycin produced nearly a log more tumor cell killing in both the bright and dim tumor cells. The combination of bleomycin followed by hyperthermia and then radiation was at least additive in the bright cells and caused a large cell kill, but in comparison, there was marked sparing of the dim cells. These results indicate that treatment with bleomycin and hyperthermia in conjunction with radiation can add substantially to tumor cell killing. This combination is significantly less effective in the hypoxic than oxic tumor regions, however, in spite of in vitro data which demonstrate that the cytotoxicity of bleomycin at hyperthermic temperatures is not oxygen-dependent.

Animals↗

Effect of hyperthermia on cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (rhodamine 123)2[tetrachloroplatinum(II)] in a human squamous cell carcinoma line and a cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II)-resistant subline.

The effect of concomitant hyperthermia on the cytotoxicities of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP), a newly synthesized drug, Pt(Rh-123)2, and its chemical components, K2PtCl4 and rhodamine 123, was examined in vitro in a squamous cell tumor line of human origin (SCC-25) and in a CDDP-resistant subline (SCC-25/CP). No difference in the cytotoxicity of hyperthermia alone was observed between these cell lines. The dose-dependent cytotoxicities of 1-h exposures to CDDP and Pt(Rh-123)2 were markedly increased at 42 degrees C and 43 degrees C in comparison to 37 degrees C, and this effect was of the same magnitude in both cell lines (enhancements of approximately 1.5 logs at 42 degrees C and 2.5 logs at 43 degrees C for CDDP and 1.5 logs at 42 degrees C and greater than 3 logs at 43 degrees C for Pt(Rh-123)2). The use of hyperthermia with CDDP, however, did not lower survivals in the SCC-25/CP cells even to the levels seen in the parent line at 37 degrees C. The cytotoxicities of K2PtCl4 and rhodamine 123 were essentially the same in the CDDP-sensitive and -resistant cells at all temperatures tested. The magnitude of the temperature effect was significantly greater for Pt(Rh-123)2 than for its chemical components. No significant effect on CDDP or Pt(Rh-123)2 accumulation was observed at 42, 43, 44 or 45 degrees C in either cell line. DNA lesions, measured by alkaline elution, were significantly enhanced for CDDP in the SCC-25 cells at 42 degrees C. These results suggest that treatment with hyperthermia and either CDDP or Pt(Rh-123)2 should result in supraadditive anti-tumor effects, although the efficacy of CDDP plus hyperthermia will be significantly less once resistance to CDDP has developed. Since resistance to CDDP does not imply cross-resistance to Pt(Rh-123)2, and since the effect of hyperthermia is somewhat greater for Pt(Rh-123)2 than for CDDP at 43 degrees C, Pt(Rh-123)2 may be more selectively toxic to tumor cells when used with local hyperthermia versus normal cells outside the treated area, especially if resistance to CDDP has already developed.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

Effect of various oxygenation conditions and fluosol-DA on cytotoxicity and antitumor activity of bleomycin in mice.

In an attempt to improve the antitumor efficacy of bleomycin, the effects of the oxygen-carrying emulsion Fluosol-DA and increased levels of inspired oxygen were tested in the mouse FSaIIC fibrosarcoma system. The dose-dependent cytotoxicity of bleomycin toward the FSaIIC cells in vitro was significantly decreased under hypoxic conditions, but it increased in a 95% O2-5% CO2 (carbogen) atmosphere as compared with the cytotoxicity of bleomycin in normally oxygenated cells. Investigations on the FSaIIC tumor in vivo also demonstrated that growth delays induced by bleomycin (10 mg/kg ip given on days 6, 10, 13, and 16) were significantly increased when one of the following treatments was given with each bleomycin injection: carbogen breathing for 2 hours (4.7 days), carbogen breathing for 6 hours (5.7 days), and breathing 3 atm of hyperbaric oxygen (6.3 days) versus normal air (3.3 days). When Fluosol-DA (12 mL/kg iv) was administered just before each bleomycin injection, the following growth delays were produced: 4.8 days with air breathing, 14.6 days with carbogen breathing for 2 hours, 14.9 days with carbogen breathing for 6 hours, and 19.7 days with breathing 100% O2 at 3 atm for 1 hour. Excision studies on the FSaIIC tumor also demonstrated that the cytotoxicity increased approximately fivefold when Fluosol-DA and carbogen breathing for 2 hours were combined with a single treatment with 10 mg of bleomycin/kg. In contrast, no measurable bone marrow toxicity was evident with this combined regimen. These results suggest that the use of Fluosol-DA plus carbogen breathing could add substantially to the clinical antitumor effects of bleomycin.

Animals↗

Sequencing of trimodality therapy [cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II)/hyperthermia/radiation] as determined by tumor growth delay and tumor cell survival in the FSaIIC fibrosarcoma.

In order to improve local control of tumors over that achievable with local hyperthermia and radiation, we are testing the use of systemic cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) in conjunction with the other two modalities. In the FSaIIC fibrosarcoma, growth delay experiments indicated that the use of any two modalities resulted in at least additive effects on growth delay. When the trimodality treatment was tested, the sequence CDDP followed by hyperthermia followed by X-ray produced a growth delay of approximately 25 days which was superior to the growth delay produced by the sequences CDDP, X-ray, and hyperthermia (19 days) and X-ray, CDDP and hyperthermia (14 days). In excision experiments, also performed in the FSaIIC tumor system, we again observed clearly superior cytotoxicity in the sequence CDDP, hyperthermia, and X-rays over the other sequences tested. Our results indicate that scheduling CDDP just prior to heating and following the heat treatment with the radiation fractions results in the best tumor cell kill, probably because this sequence takes maximum advantage of the radiosensitizing properties of the combined heat-CDDP treatment. In addition, the strong cytotoxic interaction between CDDP and hyperthermia is also optimized by this scheduling. We believe these results have significant clinical implications.

Animals↗

Effect of hyperthermia on the action of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II), rhodamine 123(2) [tetrachloroplatinum(II)], rhodamine 123, and potassium tetrachloroplatinate in vitro and in vivo.

Platinum rhodamine 123 [Pt(Rh-123)2] was synthesized in an effort to produce a new drug which would have the selective uptake into carcinoma cells of Rh-123 and the alkylating and radiosensitizing properties of the chloroplatinum moiety. Because both Rh-123 and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) have been shown to become more cytotoxic at elevated temperatures, we tested the interactions between Pt(Rh-123)2 and hyperthermia both in EMT6 cells in vitro and in the Lewis lung carcinoma in vivo. In the EMT6 cells, CDDP was far more cytotoxic than Pt(Rh-123)2 at 37 degrees C, but its cytotoxicity was less enhanced by exposure of cells to the drug at 42 degrees C than was true for Pt(Rh-123)2 [about 2 logs of increased killing at 42 degrees C after exposure to 10 microM CDDP versus over 3 logs of increased killing at 42 degrees C after exposure to 500 microM Pt(Rh-123)2]. Both Rh-123 and K2PtCl4 also are more cytotoxic to EMT6 cells at 42 degrees C than at 37 degrees C, but the hyperthermic enhancement was far less striking. In the Lewis lung carcinoma, the growth delay produced by CDDP (8 mg/kg) increased by a factor of approximately 2.5 when the drug was given i.p. just prior to local heating of the s.c. thigh tumor to 43 degrees C for 30 min, but the growth delay produced by Pt(Rh-123)2 (100 mg/kg) given i.p. 1 h before local hyperthermia increased by a factor of 5. In contrast, K2PtCl4 and Rh-123 given i.p. produced very short growth delays at normal temperatures and these growth delays were not enhanced by hyperthermia. The effect of these drugs at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C on the conformation of superhelical pBR322 DNA was also examined. Exposure to CDDP caused progressive alteration from the supercoiled to the linear form of the DNA over time. In contrast, Pt(Rh-123)2 apparently produced progressive degradation of the DNA. Hyperthermia did not alter the qualitative damage produced by the drugs but increased the rate at which the changes occurred. These results suggest both that Pt(Rh-123)2 probably has a different mechanism of action at the DNA than does CDDP and that Pt(Rh-123)2 may be a good drug to use with local hyperthermia and radiation.

Animals↗

Effect of hypoxia and acidosis on the cytotoxicity of four platinum complexes at normal and hyperthermic temperatures.

The cytotoxicities of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) and of three recently developed dichloro complexes of bivalent platinum with radiosensitizing ligands [(1,2-diamino-4-nitrobenzene)dichloroplatinum(II) (Plato), trans-bis(2-amino-5-nitrothiazole)dichloroplatinum(II) (Plant), and trans-bis(2-nitroimidazole)dichloroplatinum(II) (NIPt)] were evaluated at 37 degrees C, 42 degrees C, and 43 degrees C at normal pH, at pH 6.45, and under normally oxygenated and hypoxic conditions in EMT6 cells in vitro. For CDDP, marked hyperthermic sensitization to the drug was evident in normally oxygenated cells, but hypoxic cells showed essentially no sensitization to the cytotoxicity of CDDP at elevated temperature at normal pH. Low pH further increased the cytotoxicity of CDDP toward normally oxygenated but not hypoxic cells at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C. At 43 degrees C, however, low pH increased the cytotoxicity of CDDP toward both normally oxygenated and hypoxic cells, restoring nearly the full sensitizing effect of hyperthermia on CDDP cytotoxicity in the hypoxic cells. Plato was much more cytotoxic toward hypoxic than normally oxygenated cells under all culture conditions. At normal pH, hyperthermia increased the cytotoxicity of Plato in both hypoxic and normally oxygenated cells. At low pH, however, the cytotoxicity of Plato was inhibited at all temperatures and in both normally oxygenated and hypoxic cells. Plant was also more toxic to both normally oxygenated and hypoxic cells at elevated temperatures at normal pH. In contrast to Plato, however, Plant became much more cytotoxic toward hypoxic cells and showed increased cytotoxicity in normally oxygenated cells at low pH. Hyperthermia, however, did not further increase the rate of cell killing by Plant at low pH. NIPt, at the concentrations tested, was essentially nontoxic to cells at normal pH at 37 degrees C. Hyperthermia significantly increased the killing of hypoxic cells by NIPt under both normal and low pH conditions, but little cytotoxicity was noted for NIPt in normally oxygenated cells under any culture conditions. These results demonstrate that pH and the level of oxygenation of cells significantly affect the cytotoxicity of drugs at both normal and elevated temperatures. This sort of investigation may help delineate optimum drugs for use against environmentally determined subpopulations of cells within tumors.

Animals↗

The effect of fluosol-DA and oxygenation status on the activity of cyclophosphamide in vivo.

The addition of Fluosol-DA followed by carbogen breathing increased the antitumor effect of cyclophosphamide as measured by both tumor growth delay and tumor cell survival assays. Under air breathing condition, cyclophosphamide (100 mg/kg) administered i.p. five times on alternate days produced a tumor growth delay in the FSaIIC fibrosarcoma of 8.0 +/- 0.8 days. Adding Fluosol-DA (0.3 ml) to treatment with cyclophosphamide followed by carbogen breathing increased tumor growth delay to 11.4 +/- 3.6 days, which was not statistically significantly different from that obtained with the drug plus carbogen breathing without Fluosol-DA. As the dose of Fluosol-DA was increased and administered with drug treatment followed by carbogen breathing for 6 h, increasing tumor growth delays of 15.0 +/- 1.5 days, 18.1 +/- 1.7 days and 29.4 +/- 2.2 days were observed with 0.1 ml, 0.2 ml and 0.3 ml Fluosol-DA, respectively. When 0.1 ml Fluosol-DA was administered in combination with cyclophosphamide and immediately followed by 1 h of hyperbaric oxygen (3 atm), a tumor growth delay of 13.7 +/- 1.2 days was observed. With 0.2 ml Fluosol-DA under these conditions, the tumor growth delay increased to 23.2 +/- 1.6 days, and with 0.3 ml Fluosol-DA the tumor growth delay was 35.6 +/- 3.2 days. Single doses of cyclophosphamide with and without Fluosol-DA (0.3 ml) and various conditions of oxygenation were used in an FSaIIC fibrosarcoma tumor cell survival assay. The addition of Fluosol-DA to this single-dose protocol produced a five- to tenfold increase in tumor cell kill compared to air-breathing drug-treated animals. There was no significant difference in the toxic effect of any of the treatment conditions on bone marrow.

Animals↗

Effect of Fluosol-DA on the response of intracranial 9L tumors to X rays and BCNU.

Treatment with a perfluorochemical emulsion combined with breathing a 95% or 100% oxygen atmosphere has been shown to be an effective adjuvant to radiation therapy in several animal tumor systems. Similarly, the addition of treatment with a perfluorochemical emulsion combined with breathing a high oxygen atmosphere has been shown to improve the response of several animal tumor systems to treatment with BCNU. We now report results of the use of the perfluorochemical emulsion, Fluosol-DA, and carbogen breathing with single dose radiation treatment, BCNU and combined drug and radiation treatment in intracranially implanted 9L gliosarcoma. The median enhancement in life span produced by Fluosol-DA and carbogen breathing in addition to radiation was 2 days at 10 Gy and 6 days at 20 Gy compared to radiation treatment alone. In the group receiving 20 Gy with Fluosol-DA and carbogen breathing, 2 of 20 lived 120 days. Treatment with a single intraperitoneal injection of BCNU (10 mg/kg) on day 7 post tumor cell implantation produced an increase in life span of 2 days compared to untreated control animals. The combination of drug treatment with Fluosol-DA and carbogen breathing produced an increase in life span of 26 days, which was significantly different from BCNU treatment with air breathing (p less than 0.001). Finally, when BCNU and Fluosol-DA and carbogen were combined with radiation treatment (20 Gy), an increase in life span of nearly 85 days compared to untreated controls was produced, with 47% (9 or 19) surviving 120 days. These results suggest that this combination might be effective in the treatment of malignant brain tumors.

Administration, Inhalation↗

Thermotolerance and heat shock protein induction by slow rates of heating.

The magnitude of thermotolerance and the level of heat shock protein (HSP) expression have been measured in Chinese hamster ovary cells after gradual temperature transients from 37 degrees or 39 degrees to 42 degrees or 43 degrees C. When the level of thermotolerance was measured by clonogenic survival after challenging temperatures between 42 degrees and 43 degrees, substantial thermotolerance was observed. However, when the challenging temperature was raised to 45 degrees C, proportionally less thermotolerance was apparent. Heat shock proteins were quantitated by scanning densitometry of radiographs and, in the case of HSP 70, by immunoassay. Scanning densitometry revealed that low levels of heat shock proteins were synthesized during the heating gradients, but less than after a heat shock at 45 degrees C that delivered an equivalent heat dose. The immunoassay of HSP 70 levels measures both pre-existing and newly synthesized protein, and showed that there was net increase in HSP 70 during two of the heating gradients tested, despite the increase in synthesis noted on the gels. Higher turnover of HSP 70 at the elevated temperatures possibly accounted for the failure to detect a net gain in total protein. In contrast, the total amount of HSP 70 doubled during the 6 hr following a heat shock of 45 degrees for 10 min, an equivalent heat dose to one of the gradients where no net increase in HSP 70 was measured by immunoassay. It appears, then, that tolerance to hyperthemia at 43 degrees C or below may occur under some conditions in the absence of elevated levels of HSP 70, but tolerance to higher temperatures is more closely correlated with increased levels of heat shock proteins. However, even at higher temperatures, our data show disparities between the levels of HSP measured and the thermotolerance expressed.

Animals↗

Planning mantle radiation therapy in patients with Hodgkin disease: role of gallium-67 scintigraphy.

Detection of all sites of lymphoma is imperative for accurate planning of radiation therapy. In patients with Hodgkin disease, mantle radiation is used to treat the thoracic lymph nodes; in those with early-stage or nonbulky disease, mantle and paraaortic radiation may be the only treatment given. CT scanning of the chest adds important information to that obtained from chest radiographs. Gallium-67 scintigraphy has also been used to provide additional information on sites of active tumor. To determine the usefulness of 67Ga-citrate scintigraphy in planning the portals for radiation therapy, we analyzed the radiation treatment plans in 26 consecutive patients with Hodgkin disease; in all 26 patients, the disease had been staged by chest radiographs, chest CT scans, and gallium-67 images. Gallium-67 imaging alone provided unique information that affected the treatment plans in three patients (12%). The combined results of gallium-67 imaging and CT scans influenced the planning of radiation therapy in eight patients (31%). Gallium-67 imaging was found to be an important adjunctive study for optimal planning of radiation therapy in patients with Hodgkin disease.

Gallium Radioisotopes↗

Effects of matrix-associated chemotherapy in combination with irradiation in vivo.

Delay of tumor growth in RIF-1 fibrosarcomas in C3H mice was studied, comparing ip delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or cisplatin (cis-DDP) versus collagen matrix-associated intratumoral delivery of drug with and without irradiation to a total dose of 1,500 cGy. For cis-DDP (6 mg/kg), the number of days required for treated tumors to attain three times their original treatment volume was 6.2 +/- 1.6 SE for ip drug and 7.0 +/- 1.3 for intratumoral drug matrix. The use of the vasoactive agent epinephrine (1 mg/kg) in the matrix resulted in a growth delay of 10.1 +/- 2.0 days. Irradiation given 60 minutes after drug administration enhanced the delay of tumor growth to 19.2 +/- 2.6 days for systemic drug and 16.7 +/- 2.5 days for matrix-associated drug. The delay of tumor growth for irradiation plus matrix-associated cis-DDP containing epinephrine was 33.0 +/- 5.4 days. X-rays alone caused a tumor growth delay of 11.2 +/- 1.3 days. Similar results were found for 5-FU at a dose of 50 mg/kg, although the epinephrine in the matrix was not as effective.

Animals↗

Cardiac disease after mediastinal irradiation for seminoma.

One hundred twenty-four patients with seminoma (119 primary testis, five primary extragonadal) were treated between 1968 and 1984 at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy. Fifty-seven of the 124 patients were treated with irradiation to the mediastinum as well as to an infradiaphragmatic field. One patient received supradiaphragmatic radiotherapy only. The remaining patients had radiation treatment limited to the infradiaphragmatic field only. Median dose to the mediastinum among the 58 patients was 2400 cGy. Four patients developed heart disease (one fatal myocardial infarction, one uncomplicated myocardial infarction, one constrictive pericarditis resulting in permanent total body anasarca, and one patient requiring aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting for atherosclerotic disease) and two died suddenly. The two sudden deaths were thought to be cardiac in origin by the patient's primary physicians. All six complications occurred in the group that received mediastinal irradiation. No cardiac disease was manifested in the group not treated with mediastinal irradiation. This difference in the incidence of cardiac disease between the two groups is statistically significant (two sided, P = 0.019). Neither group had a statistically significant difference in cardiac disease rate from a normal population (Framingham study), although the ratio of observed to expected cardiac disease was 1.97 in the group receiving mediastinal radiation. Further experience from this and other institutions is necessary to confirm this finding.

Adult↗