Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

W Hiddemann

Publications and source records attributed to W Hiddemann.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Meropenem monotherapy versus combination therapy with ceftazidime and amikacin for empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic patients.

Infections remain the major cause of morbidity and mortality among neutropenic cancer patients. The current study addresses the question whether monotherapy with the new broad-spectrum carbapenem meropenem exhibits efficacy comparable to that of the standard combination therapy with ceftazidime and amikacin for empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic patients. Seventy-one patients with hematological malignancies (55%) or solid tumors (45%), neutropenia < 500/microliter, and fever > 38.5 degrees C were randomly assigned to either meropenem (1 g every 8 h) or ceftazidime (2 g every 8 h) and amikacin (15 mg/kg/day) intravenously. Meropenem (n = 34) and ceftazidime/amikacin (n = 37) were equivalent with respect to the clinical response at 72 h (62% versus 68%) (p > 0.05) and at the end of unmodified therapy (59% versus 62%). Gram-positive bacteremia responded poorly in the meropenem and ceftazidime/amikacin group (29% versus 25%), whereas all gram-negative bacteremias responded except for one in the meropenem group caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All patients survived to 72 h. One patient in each group died of gram-positive sepsis resistant to study medication. No significant side effects occurred in any regimen. This study suggests that meropenem monotherapy might be as effective as combination therapy with ceftazidime and amikacin for the empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Plasmacytosis in acute myeloid leukemia: two cases of plasmacytosis and increased IL-6 production in the AML blast cells.

An increased plasma cell count in the bone marrow occurs in a subgroup of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The pathogenic mechanism for this plasmacytosis is unclear. In this report we describe two patients with AML and plasmacytosis who shared some features of their diseases. The morphological subtypes were AML M4 and M4eo; the leukemias were secondary to cytotoxic pretreatment, and complex cytogenetic changes were found in the leukemic cells of both patients. There was a marked increase in the number of bone marrow plasma cells in both cases and no monoclonal immunoglobulin was detectable. The IgH-CDR3 gene scan depicted a monoclonal IgH rearrangement in the bone marrow cells of one patient. Analysis of the cytokine production of the leukemic cells showed a high production of IL-6 of the leukemic blast cells in the in vitro cell culture and a high cytoplasmic IL-6 in the leukemic cells as revealed by immunocytology. We describe the clinical picture of a type of secondary AML with FAB M4 morphology associated with bone marrow plasmacytosis. We suggest that paracrine growth stimulation of plasma cells by paraneoplastic IL-6 production of the leukemic blast cells contributes to the plasmacytosis observed in patients with AML.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor shortens duration of critical neutropenia and prolongs disease-free survival after sequential high-dose cytosine arabinoside and mitoxantrone (S-HAM) salvage therapy for refractory and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. German AML Cooperative Group.

Patients with primary refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who undergo intensive salvage chemotherapy carry a high risk of treatment failure due to infectious complications and early relapses. The study presented here assessed the effect of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on the duration of post-treatment neutropenia, the incidence of infection-related deaths, and the disease-free and overall survival. Sixty-eight evaluable patients with relapsed and refractory AML received G-CSF 5 microg/kg per day subcutaneously starting 2 days after the completion of salvage treatment with the S-HAM regimen, consisting of high-dose cytosine arabinoside twice daily on days 1, 2, 8, and 9 and mitoxantrone on days 3, 4, 10, and 11. Ninety-one patients who were treated with the identical S-HAM regimen but without G-CSF support during a preceding study served as controls. The application of G-CSF resulted in a significant shortening of critical neutropenia of less than 500 microl (36 vs. 40 days; p = 0.008), which translated into a trend towards a lower early death rate (21% vs. 30%) and an increase of complete remissions (56% vs. 47%, p=0.11). In patients younger than 60 years a significant prolongation of time to treatment failure (159 vs. 93 days, p=0.038) and of duration of disease-free survival (203 vs. 97 days, p=0.003) was observed. These results indicate a beneficial effect of G-CSF on early mortality as well as on long-term outcome when administered after S-HAM salvage therapy for advanced AML.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

Intensive therapy for high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and the biological significance of karyotype abnormalities.

Therapy for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has been less than effective when based on low-dose treatment or supportive measures only, including hematopoietic growth factors. Recently, based on the percentage of bone marrow blasts, the number of cytopenic cell lines and cytogenetics, clinical risk groups have been defined more precisely. Recent studies applying intensive acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-type therapy to high-risk MDS have produced remissions ranging from 45 to 79%. Advances in the understanding of the biology of MDS clearly point to cytogenetics rather than morphologic subtype as being of prognostic relevance. Hence, new treatments need to be developed for patients with unfavorable karyotypes and complex abnormalities in particular. These MDS subtypes are characterized by low spontaneous proliferative activity and low autocrine production of hematopoietic growth factors. The subtypes are, however, highly sensitive to external stimulation by granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). New therapies could emerge from these findings, for example, priming high-risk MDS patients with hematopoietic growth factors in combination with intensive AML-type treatment. Recent studies suggest that incorporating high-dose AraC into an intensive drug combination could further improve the outcome of high-risk MDS.

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1998

Overexpression of ribosomal proteins L4 and L5 and the putative alternative elongation factor PTI-1 in the doxorubicin resistant human colon cancer cell line LoVoDxR.

A better understanding of the regulatory network underlying cellular drug resistance and stress response may be helpful to overcome the phenomenon of therapy-induced cross-resistances against a variety of antineoplastic agents. Two new powerful molecular techniques, mRNA differential display reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) and subtractive suppressive hybridisation were applied for the comparative analysis of the gene expression profile of a doxorubicin resistant and its corresponding sensitive parental colon carcinoma cell line (LoVo H67P). DDRT-PCR generated partial cDNAs from the doxorubicin resistant, sensitive and stress (dexamethasone, doxorubicin, cadmium chloride or heat) exposed sensitive cells, were size-separated on polyacrylamide gels. The expression patterns of more than 9000 bands of the resistant, sensitive and stressed sensitive cell populations were identical by more than 95%. Of the differentially expressed mRNAs, 20 cDNA fragments were reamplified after isolation from the gel, used as probes for Northern blot analysis to verify their differential expression and sequenced after cloning. Among the differentially expressed cDNAs, homologies of 96% and 87%, respectively, were found to the human proto-oncogene PTI-1 and the human ribosomal protein L4. Subtractive suppressive hybridisation revealed overexpression of the ribosomal protein L5 in the doxorubicin resistant line. These data point to the control of gene expression at the translational level as an important mechanism involved in cellular stress response.

Antibiotics, Antineoplastic↗
PubMed1998

Detection of hyperdiploid karyotypes (>50 chromosomes) in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

ALL patients with a hyperdiploid karyotype of more than 50 chromosomes (high hyperdiploidy) carry a better prognosis in contrast to patients presenting with other cytogenetic features, and an appropriate less intensive therapy protocol should be developed for these patients. For this reason it is desirable to have a quick screening method identifying those with this type of hyperdiploidy. We therefore studied the bone marrow and/or blood cells of 278 children with ALL using double target fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on interphase. A combination of DNA probes (repetitive, centromere specific) was applied detecting chromosomes which are most frequently overrepresented in patients with hyperdiploidy (>50), at chromosomes 6, 10, 17 and 18. All patients showing hybridization signals differing from the normal signal distribution of two spots for each tested chromosome were analyzed cytogenetically as well. 102 children (102/278; 36.7%) were found to have a clone with aberrant FISH results. In 80 patients (80/278, 28.8%) the cytogenetic analysis detected a hyperdiploid karyotype >50 chromosomes, whereas the remaining patients (n=12) could be related to other ploidy subgroups, ie hyperdiploidy with 47-50 chromosomes, haploidy, triploidy/tetraploidy. Comparison of the FISH results with the measurements of the DNA content showed good agreement for 88.8% (208/234) of the investigated patients. The detected rate of 28.8% patients with a high hyperdiploid karyotype in our investigated cohort is comparable to the frequency of other studies. Only one patient was not identified as having a hyperdiploid karyotype with our combination of DNA probes. Our results indicate that FISH is a feasible and quick screening method for the detection of hyperdiploid karyotypes (>50 chromosomes) and other ploidy subgroups.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMed1998

Superiority of high-dose over intermediate-dose cytosine arabinoside in the treatment of patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia: results of an age-adjusted prospective randomized comparison.

Although cytosine arabinoside (AraC) represents the most effective single agent in the treatment of adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when given at doses exceeding 200 to 500 mg per application, its optimal dosage is still a matter of controversial discussion. While pharmacokinetic investigations suggest that the AraC-activating enzyme deoxycytidine kinase is saturated at drug concentrations achieved by short-term infusion of 0.5 to 1.0 g/m2 AraC and that higher doses are therefore not more effective, recent evidence indicates that additional mechanisms of AraC cytotoxicity may exist which could be enhanced by further dose escalation. In order to test this thesis in the clinical setting, a prospective randomized comparison of high-dose (HD-AraC) vs intermediate-dose (ID-AraC) AraC was carried out in patients with refractory or relapsed AML on the basis of the sequential high-dose AraC and mitoxantrone regimen (S-HAM). AraC was given as a 3-h infusion q 12 h on days 1, 2, 8 and 9. Patients younger than 60 years were randomized to AraC doses of 3.0 g/m2 vs 1.0 g/m2 while older patients received either 1.0 g/m2 or 0.5 g/m2 per single dose. Mitoxantrone was given to all patients on days 3, 4, 10 and 11 at a daily dose of 10 mg/m2. Randomization was stratified for primary refractoriness against induction therapy and length of first remission in relapsed patients. From 186 evaluable patients, 88 (47%) and 10 cases (5%) achieved a complete (CR) or partial (PR) remission, 39 patients (21%) had persisting leukemia (non-response (NR)), and 49 cases (26%) died within 6 weeks after the start of therapy (early death (ED)). In patients younger than 60 years the higher dose level resulted in a significant reduction of NR (12% vs 31%; ordinal chi2 test: P = 0.01) but also a higher rate of ED (32% vs 17%) thus leading to a marginally higher CR rate only (52% vs 45%). Within the subgroup of patients with refractory AML the tendency towards a higher CR rate after HD-AraC was more pronounced (46% vs 26%; P = 0.045). In patients older than 60 years, corresponding though less evident differences were observed with a higher rate of NR in the lower dose group (26% vs 16%) and ED occurring more frequently after higher doses (36% vs 26%). These data indicate that HD-AraC reveals a significantly higher antileukemic efficacy than ID-AraC as expressed by a significant reduction of failure from NR. This advantage, however, does not fully translate into an increase in remission rate due to a higher incidence of ED after HD-AraC predominantly from uncontrolled infections. In order to take full advantage of the higher antileukemic activity of HD-AraC an improvement of supportive care and infection control is warranted.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

Oral cytarabine ocfosfate in acute myeloid leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma--phase I/II studies and pharmacokinetics.

Cytosine arabinoside (AraC) is rapidly inactivated via systemic deamination with half-lives ranging from 1 h (i.v.) to 4 h (s.c.) -- and cannot be applied orally due to its hydrophilic properties. These limitations might be overcome by YNK01 -- a lipophilic prodrug of AraC -- that is resistant to deoxycytidine deaminase and can be applied orally. In the present study the therapeutic activity, side-effects and pharmacokinetics of YNK01 were evaluated in a phase I/II study including patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n=23) or low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (n=20). YNK01 was given by 14 day cycles with escalating doses starting with a daily dose of 50 mg/m2 (equivalent to 20 mg/m2 AraC on a molar basis). The maximum tolerated dose was reached at the 600 mg/m2 dose level with WHO grade 3-4 diarrhoea as the main toxicity. In the 23 patients with AML two complete remissions, four partial remissions and three patients with stable disease were observed. In the 23 patients with AML two complete remissions, four partial remissions and three patients with NHL two cases reached partial remission and six other patients mainained stable disease. Pharmacokinetic evaluations were performed during 34 treatment cycles in 28 patients. The data suggest that YNK01 was absorbed in the distal part of the small intestine and taken up into hepatocytes. After hepatic psi and subsequent beta-oxydation of YNK01 the released AraC (and its deamination product AraU) appeared in the systemic circulation. Time of maximum concentration (h), half-life (h) and area under the curve (ng x h/ml, at the 1200 mg dose level) were as follows (VC variation coefficient) YNK01: 1.0 (0.58), 10.1 (0.43), 12622 (0.65); AraC: 23.2 (0.57), 22.6 (0.36), 3496 (0.76); AraU: 19.2 (0.58) 22.3 (0.33) 15441 (0.66). Of the total dose of YNK01 15.8% was absorbed and metabolized to AraC and AraU, defining the metabolic bioavailability of this prodrug. A linear relationship was observed between YNK01 dose and YNK01 AUC and AraC AUC over the whole dose range tested. AraC was released from hepatocytes over a prolonged period of time resulting in long lasting plasma levels similar to a continuous i.v. infusion. After administration of YNK01 at a dosage of 100-150 mg/m2 plasma levels of AraC were comparable to those achieved after low-dose AraC treatment (20 mg/m2) while at doses of YNK01 of 450-600 mg/m2 concentrations of standard-dose AraC (100 mg/m2) were obtained. We conclude that YNK01 shows considerable activity against relapsed and refractory AML and NHL and that its pharmacokinetic properties offers advantages in comparison to (standard) i.v. or s.c. AraC in clinical practice.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

Combination of aclarubicin and etoposide for the treatment of advanced acute myeloid leukemia: results of a prospective multicenter phase II trial. German AML Cooperative Group.

In order to develop new strategies for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, the German AML Cooperative Group performed a prospective multicenter phase II study to evaluate the antileukemic efficacy of aclarubicin 60 mg/m2/day and etoposide 100 mg/m2/day each given for 5 days. Of 37 heavily pretreated evaluable patients (median age 42 years, range 18-81) 15 (40%) achieved a remission after one or two courses of treatment consisting of nine complete (24%) and six partial remissions (16%). Fourteen (38%) cases were non-responders and eight (22%) patients suffered from early deaths. Disease-free survival for patients in remission and overall survival were 3.2 months each. The median duration of critical neutropenia <500/microl was 27 days. The most frequent non-hematologic side-effects were stomatitis (WHO III/IV, 48%), infections (40%), nausea/vomiting (26%) and diarrhea (24%). Cardiac toxicity was mild. This study suggests a substantial antileukemic efficacy and an acceptable toxicity of aclarubicin in combination with etoposide in heavily pretreated patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia, and warrants further evaluations in a more favorable stage of the disease.

Aclarubicin↗
PubMed1998

Structure of Bcl-1 and IgH-CDR3 rearrangements as clonal markers in mantle cell lymphomas.

Mantle cell lymphoma represent a clinicopathologically distinct entity of malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and are characterized by a specific chromosomal translocation t(11;14)(q13;q32) involving the cyclin D1 gene also designated as bcl-1/PRAD1 gene on chromosome 11 and the heavy chain immunoglobulin joining region on chromosome 14. We have established a PCR method to amplify t(11;14) junctional sequences in DNA from fresh frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue by bcl-1-specific primers in combination with a consensus immunoglobulin JH primer. A total of 65 cases histologically classified as mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) were analyzed for the presence of a t(11;14) translocation and monoclonal IgH-CDR3 rearrangements. From 26 patients with classical MCL and three cases with the anaplastic variant of MCL fresh frozen biopsy material was available for DNA extraction. We detected a bcl-1/JH rearrangement in 12 out of 29 samples (41%). In 36 cases paraffin-embedded lymph node tissue was the only source of DNA. In this material we found a bcl-1/JH rearrangement in six out of 31 samples with intact DNA (20%). To confirm the specificity of the PCR and to determine the bcl-1/JH junctional region sequences as clone-specific marker in individual patients we characterized the junctional DNA sequences by direct PCR sequencing in 16 cases. Interestingly we found that six bcl-1/JH junctions harbored DH segments in their N regions indicating that bcl-1/JH rearrangements can occur in a later stage of B cell ontogeny during which the complete VH to DH-JH joining or VH-replacement takes place. To investigate the suitability of IgH-CDR3 as sensitive molecular marker for those MCL patients in which a t(11;14) translocation can not easily be amplified, we additionally analysed 60 cases for the presence of monoclonally rearranged IgH genes by IgH-CDR3-PCR. A monoclonal IgH-CDR3 PCR product could be identified in 24 out of 29 fresh frozen samples (79%) whereas only 11 out of 31 samples (36%) with paraffin-derived DNA were positive. We demonstrate that automated fluorescence detection of monoclonal IgH-CDR3 PCR products allows the rapid and sensitive monitoring of minimal residual disease also in cases that lack a PCR amplifiable t(11;14) translocation. In combination with allele-specific primers the procedure may improve current experimental approaches for detection of occult MCL cells at initial staging and residual disease during and after therapy.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Renin in acute myeloid leukaemia blasts.

Hypokalaemia is a clinical phenomenon in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) to which activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute. Recently monocytes were found to express renin, the key initializing enzyme of the RAS. By RT/PCR, transcripts for renin were detected in four of 18 bone marrow samples from patients with AML. Three leukaemic cell lines, isolated monocytes, bone marrow stromal cells and 25 peripheral blood and 24 bone marrow samples of normal controls were negative for renin transcripts. In view of the importance of local RAS in other tissues, the expression of renin in the bone marrow of AML patients warrants further investigation.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

Cell lineage specific involvement in acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) using a combination of May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization techniques for the detection of the translocation t(15;17)(q22;q12).

Acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) is strongly associated with the translocation t(15;17) which therefore provides a reliable marker to assess the potential involvement of different cell lineages. Six cases with morphologically, cytogenetically and molecularly proven APL were analysed at diagnosis or relapse by combining fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with standard May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) staining at the single cell level on bone marrow and blood smears. With the FICTION technique, combining immunophenotyping with FISH, haemopoietic precursor cells were identified using monoclonal antibodies against CD34, B- and T-lymphocytes could be identified with CD19 and CD3. In addition, HLA-DR-positive cells were studied for the presence of t(15;17). Morphologically identified myeloblasts were relocated on the smear after FISH and were found to be PML/RARA positive in 91%, abnormal promyelocytes in 97%. In contrast, a positive signal was obtained in only 18% of PMN. Erythroblasts, lymphocytes and plasma cells did not show a PML/RARA rearrangement. Accordingly, all cells expressing CD3 or CD19 were PML/RARA negative. CD34 positive precursor cells identified by FICTION were PML/RARA positive in 97%. HLA-DR-positive cells contained a PML/RARA rearrangement in 24% of cells in one case and were negative in the two other cases investigated. These data indicate that APL appears to originate from a level of haemopoietic precursor cells but is restricted to the myeloid lineage. The low proportion of PML/RARA-positive PMN points to the impairment of blast cell differentiation beyond the promyelocyte stage but also emphasizes the existence of normal residual haemopoietic stem cells from which PML/RARA-negative PMN must be derived.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Induction combination chemotherapy with docetaxel and carboplatin in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Results in the therapy of locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by operation and/or irradiation only are poor. To improve the long-term prognosis a systemic induction chemotherapy may be successful in reducing local tumor burden and eliminating micrometastases. The efficacy of preoperative docetaxel-carboplatin combination chemotherapy was studied in a phase-II study for NSCLC stage IIIB. METHODS: 15 patients with functionally operable stage IIIB NSCLC (10 squamous-cell, 4 adeno, 1 large-cell) were enrolled to receive 4 cycles of docetaxel (100 mg/m2, day 1) and carboplatin (AUC 7.5, day 2) on an outpatient basis with G-CSF support after cycle 1 and were subsequently evaluated for surgery. Postoperatively the patients were irradiated with 50 Gy (R0-resection) or 60 Gy (R1-resection). RESULTS: Acceptable hematologic and non-hematologic toxicity was observed. On an intent-to-treat basis, 14 patients were evaluable for radiological response after 4 cycles of chemotherapy (1 patient still on therapy): 11/14 patients had radiological response of > or = 50%, 1/14 progressive disease, 2 exclusions because of toxic death (1 patient) and capillary leak (1 patient). Of 11 patients evaluated for surgery, 9 patients were resected, 1 patient is awaiting operation, 1 patient received radiotherapy because of an esophageal fistula. By histological findings a downstaging was achieved in 6/9 resected patients: histological complete response (CR) in 4 patients, partial response (PR) in 2, and no response in 3. With a mean follow-up of 8.1 months (excluding 1 patient in early postop course), 5/5 R0 and histological responders are alive and disease-free. Of the 3 histological non-responders, 1 patient (R1/2 resection) died of respiratory failure, 2 patients (1 R1 and 1 R0) of distant metastases. CONCLUSION: Outpatient therapy with docetaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy is effective in downstaging patients with NSCLC, toxicity is acceptable. Histological response may be the most important prognostic factor. The early results of this phase II study encourage evaluation of the long-term benefit within a prospective randomized phase III study.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1998

Elevated expression of S100P, CAPL and MAGE 3 in doxorubicin-resistant cell lines: comparison of mRNA differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and subtractive suppressive hybridization for the analysis of differential gene expression.

Subtractive suppressive hybridization (SSH) and mRNA differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) were compared for their ability to detect the expression of drug-resistance associated genes in a doxorubicin-resistant and -sensitive colon carcinoma cell line (LoVo H67P). The expression pattern of more than 9000 bands obtained by DDRT-PCR were identical in both cell lines by more than 95%. Of the remaining differentially expressed DDRT-PCR products, 21 cDNA fragments were further analyzed after cloning. A total of 210 clones were sequenced resulting in 40 different sequences of which only five were differentially expressed as revealed by Northern blot analysis. SSH, on the other hand, resulted in 30 different sequences of 37 clones analyzed. Thirteen of 30 sequences (43%) could be identified by databank analysis (excluding expressed sequence tags) in contrast to nine of 40 clones (23%) obtained by DDRT-PCR. Of the clones identified by SSH, 60% exhibited a differential expression comparing the doxorubicin-resistant and -sensitive cell line, respectively, as compared to only 13% of the DDRT-PCR derived clones. The application of SSH resulted in the identification of differentially expressed genes in three doxorubin-resistant cell lines (LoVo DxR, ARH D60 and KB-V1) as compared to the sensitive parental cell lines. A significant higher expression of S100P, a protein involved in calcium metabolism, as well as MAGE 3 (melanoma antigen gene) was found in the resistant cell lines using this methodology. The expression of CAPL, a second protein involved in calcium metabolism, was only moderately elevated in the doxorubicin-resistant cells. We found that subtractive suppressive hybridization proved to be a more rapid and reliable method for the detection of differentially expressed mRNAs in our system.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1998

Effective biomodulation by leucovorin of high-dose infusion fluorouracil given as a weekly 24-hour infusion: results of a randomized trial in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: To determine whether high-dose infusional fluorouracil (FU) is effectively modulated by leucovorin (LV), interferon (IFN) alpha-2b, or both when given to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (n = 236) with progressive, measurable disease were randomized to three groups and received FU 2,600 mg/m2 as a 24-hour continuous infusion (CI) weekly for 6 weeks with 2 weeks rest (FU24h) and LV 500 mg/m2 as a 2-hour infusion before FU or IFN 3 x 10(6) U subcutaneously 3 times weekly or both. Treatment continued until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity was observed. Pairs of treatment arms were analyzed sequentially to detect equivalence or a 25% difference in response rates. RESULTS: The rate of objective remission in patients who received FU24h/LV (44%; 40 of 91) was significantly higher than in patients who received FU24h/IFN (18%; 16 of 90; P < .05). The response rates of patients who received FU24h/LV versus FU24h/LV/IFN (27%; 13 of 49) were statistically equivalent. Significant differences were observed for time to tumor progression (TTP) (FU24h/LV, 7.1 months; FU24h/IFN, 3.9 months; FU24h/LV/IFN, 6.3 months; global P value < .009) and survival (16.6 months, 12.7 months, 19.6 months, respectively; global P value < .04). Unpredictable and life-threatening toxicity in the FU24h/LV/IFN arm required dose reduction of FU to 2,000 mg/m2/day and early stoppage of this arm. Toxicity was manageable in patients who received both FU24h/LV (grade 3 to 4 diarrhea, 21%) and FU24h/IFN (grade 3 to 4 diarrhea, 15%). CONCLUSION: Response rate, TTP, and overall survival were superior for LV-containing regimens compared with IFN modulation alone. The addition of IFN to high-dose infusional FU plus LV offers no advantage and may increase toxicity. The regimen of high-dose infusional FU24h/LV warrants further evaluation in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Mantle-cell lymphomas have more widespread disease and a slower response to chemotherapy compared with follicle-center lymphomas: results of a prospective comparative analysis of the German Low-Grade Lymphoma Study Group.

PURPOSE: To compare mantle-cell lymphomas (MCLs) and follicle-center lymphomas (FCLs) for their features of clinical presentation, response to chemotherapy, and prognosis on the basis of a prospective randomized clinical trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with MCL and FCL who entered onto the prospective randomized comparison of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (COP) versus prednimustine and mitoxantrone (PmM) followed by a second randomization for interferon (IFN) maintenance versus observation only. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-five of 234 patients had FCL and 45 of 234 patients had MCL. With FCL, both sexes were equally affected (men, 47%); patients with MCL were predominantly men (78%; P < .0004) and had a higher median age (64 v 53 years; P < .0001). Patients with MCL also had more widespread disease, reflected by the proportion of patients with two or greater extranodal manifestations (43% v 21%; P < .005) and nine or greater involved nodal areas (64% v 45%; nonsignificant [NS]). Response to chemotherapy was significantly lower in patients with MCL (complete remission [CR] + partial remission [PR], 69% v 88%; P < .05) and occurred at a slower pace. Patients with MCL also had a shorter event-free interval (median, 8 v 24 months; P < .0001) and overall survival (median, 28 v 77 months; P < .0001). In both subtypes, however, patients with less than two residual lymphoma manifestations in remission experienced a relatively good prognosis with an estimated 5-year survival of greater than 60% for MCL and greater than 75% for FCL. CONCLUSION: MCL and FCL differ substantially in their features of presentation, response to chemotherapy, and long-term prognosis. The extent of residual disease after completion of chemotherapy discriminates patients with different prognosis and may be used for the stratification of postremission strategies.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Detection of disseminated carcinoma cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood in primary breast cancer with RT/PCR of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP)].

The analysis of tissue specific gene expression by reverse transcription based RT/PCR methods is currently evaluated as a method for the detection of tumor cell dissemination in patients with cancer. Breast cancer tissues express PTHrP and the level of PTHrP expression in the primary tumor correlates with the incidence of metastases in the bone. We applied a RT/PCR assay of PTHrP to detect tumor cells in the mononuclear cell fraction of peripheral blood (pb) and bone marrow (bm) of patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer. PTHrP positivity was found in 18/67 pb and 20/71 bm samples. In a median follow up of 23 months there were 7 metastatic relapses (4 osseous, 2 hepatic, 1 pulmonary) and 9 local relapses in patients with primary lymph node positive breast cancer. The hepatic and pulmonary relapses had been both PTHrP-PCR negative in pb and in bm. Of the 4 patients with metastatic relapses to the bone the samples of bm had been initially negative in all cases, the pb had been positive in 2 cases. Of the 9 patients with local recurrences the pb alone had been positive in 4 patients, 5 patients had been negative in both the pb and the bm. During the period of observation there was no local and metastatic relapse detectable in the group of patients with primary lymph node negative breast cancer. In summary the increased risk for local or systemic relapse would have been predictable by RT/PCR of PTHrP alone in pb in 4 of the 9 local and in 2 of the 7 early metastatic relapses. Further follow-up of the patient cohort analysed is needed to assess the value of the RT/PCR of PTHrP as a prognostic and predictive marker in patients with breast cancer.

Adult↗