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PubMed2002

Age-adjusted chemotherapy for primary central-nervous system lymphoma--a pilot study.

Patients with primary central-nervous-system lymphoma (PCNSL) are treated with chemotherapy and cranial irradiation, which increase the risk of late neurotoxicity. The aim of this phase II trial was to investigate whether chemotherapy alone could induce durable remissions. Thirty non-immunocompromised patients were enrolled in two treatment groups, according to age. Patients in group A (< 65 years; n = 17) received carmustine, vincristine, dexamethasone, high-dose methotrexate and high-dose cytarabine. Patients in group B > 65 years: n = 13) were treated with carmustine, vincristine, dexamethasone and high-dose cytarabine. Both groups received intrathecal treatment. Radiotherapy was reserved for patients with stable or progressive disease. The overall response rate in group A was 65% (complete response 35%; partial response 29%) and in group B. 61% (complete response 23%; partial response 38%), but only 6 remissions were maintained without irradiation. In all, there were five treatment-related deaths. Responses were induced, but were mostly of short duration, and the treatment was associated with profound toxicity.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The Stanford experience with high-dose etoposide cytoreductive regimens and autologous bone marrow transplantation in Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: preliminary data.

Seventy-seven Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients received high-dose etoposide in combination with cyclophosphamide and either fractionated total body irradiation (TBI) (n = 28) or carmustine (n = 49) prior to autologous bone marrow transplantation. Marrow from NHL patients was purged in vitro with a panel of monoclonal B- and T-cell antibodies and complement. Six toxic deaths (8%) occurred, all in patients who received carmustine. With a median follow-up of 1 year, 57 patients are alive and free from progressive disease. The 1-year actuarial survival and freedom from progression are 85 and 73% in fractionated TBI/etoposide/cyclophosphamide-treated patients and 79 and 72% in carmustine/etoposide/cyclophosphamide-treated patients. Forty-five of these patients participated in prospective trials for which eligibility criteria were (1) less than 25% curability with conventional therapy; (2) achievement of minimal disease state with conventional therapy; and (3) transplantation early in the course of disease. One-year actuarial survival for 18 patients with relapsed Hodgkin's disease is 80% and for 21 relapsed intermediate and high-grade NHL patients, 70%. One NHL Burkitt's patient was transplanted on a protocol for high-risk intermediate and high-grade NHL in first remission. Five patients with follicular mixed or small cleaved NHL were also transplanted in first remission.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1994

Dexa-BEAM in patients with Hodgkin's disease refractory to multidrug chemotherapy regimens: a trial of the German Hodgkin's Disease Study Group.

PURPOSE: A prospective phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone, carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan (Dexa-BEAM) as salvage chemotherapy for patients with Hodgkin's disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-five patients progressing on or relapsing after eight- or 10-drug chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone plus doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine [COPP+ABVD] or COPP+ABV+ifosfamide, methotrexate, etoposide, and prednisone [IMEP]) were treated with Dexa-BEAM. Patients who responded after two cycles of Dexa-BEAM either continued treatment for another two to three cycles or received high-dose chemotherapy/autologous bone marrow transplantation (HDCT/ABMT) with cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and carmustine (BCNU) (CVB) as conditioning regimen. RESULTS: Seventeen patients (31%) achieved a complete remission and 16 (29%) a partial remission, resulting in a response rate of 60% (95% confidence interval, 46% to 73%). Progressive disease developed in 18 patients. Toxicity of Dexa-BEAM was acceptable with pronounced, but temporary World Health Organization (WHO) grade III/IV granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia occurring in more than 90% of all courses. Two patients died of sepsis during granulocytopenia. Three prognostic subgroups could be distinguished: (1) patients progressing on initial chemotherapy, (2) patients relapsing within 12 months, and (3) patients with late relapses. The response rates for these groups were 52%, 60%, and 83%, and the median survival duration 12, 29, and 40+ months, respectively. In a nonrandomized comparison, the survival of patients who responded to two cycles of Dexa-BEAM and had additional cycles of Dexa-BEAM (n = 14) was not different from those responding patients who underwent HDCT/ABMT (n = 19). However, the power to detect a 20% survival difference was only 33% in this comparison. CONCLUSION: Dexa-BEAM is an effective salvage treatment for patients with Hodgkin's disease who fail to respond to multidrug chemotherapy. Efficacy and toxicity are comparable to HDCT/ABMT and underline the need for prospective randomized trials to define better the role of HDCT with and without ABMT in these patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Phase III multicenter randomized trial of the Dartmouth regimen versus dacarbazine in patients with metastatic melanoma.

PURPOSE: Several single-institution phase II trials have reported that the Dartmouth regimen (dacarbazine, cisplatin, carmustine, and tamoxifen) can induce major tumor responses in 40% to 50% of stage IV melanoma patients. This study was designed to compare the overall survival time, rate of objective tumor response, and toxicity of the Dartmouth regimen with standard dacarbazine treatment in stage IV melanoma patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this multicenter phase III trial, 240 patients with measurable stage IV melanoma were randomized to receive the Dartmouth regimen (dacarbazine 220 mg/m(2) and cisplatin 25 mg/m(2) days 1 to 3, carmustine 150 mg/m(2) day 1 every other cycle, and tamoxifen 10 mg orally bid) or dacarbazine 1, 000 mg/m(2). Treatment was repeated every 3 weeks. Patients were observed for tumor response, survival time, and toxicity. RESULTS: Median survival time from randomization was 7 months; 25% of the patients survived > or = 1 year. There was no difference in survival time between the two treatment arms when analyzed on an intent-to-treat basis or when only the 231 patients who were both eligible and had received treatment were considered. Tumor response was assessable in 226 patients. The response rate to dacarbazine was 10.2% compared with 18.5% for the Dartmouth regimen (P =.09). Bone marrow suppression, nausea/vomiting, and fatigue were significantly more common in the Dartmouth arm. CONCLUSION: There was no difference in survival time and only a small, statistically nonsignificant increase in tumor response for stage IV melanoma patients treated with the Dartmouth regimen compared with dacarbazine. Dacarbazine remains the reference standard treatment for stage IV melanoma.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

High-dose methotrexate-based chemotherapy followed by consolidating radiotherapy in non-AIDS-related primary central nervous system lymphoma: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Lymphoma Group Phase II Trial 20962.

PURPOSE: To confirm the feasibility and estimate the efficacy of methotrexate (MTX), teniposide, carmustine, and methylprednisolone (MBVP) chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy (RT) for patients with non-AIDS-related primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) treated in a multicenter setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Treatment consisted of two cycles of MBVP (MTX 3 g/m2 days 1 and 15, teniposide 100 mg/m2 days 2 and 3, carmustine 100 mg/m2 day 4, methylprednisolone 60 mg/m2 days 1 to 5, and two intrathecal injections of MTX 15 mg, cytarabine 40 mg, and hydrocortisone 25 mg) followed by 40 Gy of RT. Primary end points were response and safety of this regimen. RESULTS: Twelve centers included 52 patients who were all analyzed on an intent-to-treat basis. Median follow-up of all patients was 27 months. One patient progressed and died before treatment, and five patients died during treatment. Four patients received RT after one cycle of chemotherapy, and 42 patients completed the entire treatment. Hematologic grade 3 and 4 toxicity was seen in 78% of patients for leukocytes and 24% of patients for platelets. The overall response rate of all 52 patients was 81%. Two patients who did not fulfill the criteria of objective response survived more than 1 year; one of them is still alive without disease. Eighteen patients died; 11 deaths were a result of tumor, five were probably treatment-related, one was caused by late leukoencephalopathy, and one was a result of intercurrent disease. Median estimated overall survival was 46 months. CONCLUSION: MBVP followed by RT for PCNSL has a high response rate. However, the 10% toxic death rate during treatment in a multicenter setting underlines the need for highly specialized care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Prospective, randomized comparison of high-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell support versus intermediate-dose chemotherapy after surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy in women with high-risk primary breast cancer: a report of CALGB 9082, SWOG 9114, and NCIC MA-13.

PURPOSE: The prognosis for women with primary breast cancer involving multiple axillary nodes remains poor. High-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell support produced promising results in initial clinical trials conducted at single institutions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seven hundred eighty-five women aged 22 to 66 years with stage IIA, IIB, or IIIA breast cancer involving 10 or more axillary lymph nodes were randomized after surgery and standard adjuvant chemotherapy to either high-dose cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carmustine (HD-CPB) with stem-cell support or intermediate-dose cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carmustine (ID-CPB) with G-CSF support but without stem cells. Planned treatment for all patients included locoregional radiation therapy. Hormone-receptor-positive patients were to receive 5 years of tamoxifen. Event-free survival (EFS) was the primary end point. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 7.3 years. Event-free survival was not significantly different between the two treatment groups (P = .24). The probability of being free of an event at 5 years with HD-CPB was 61% (95% CI, 56% to 65%), and was 58% (95% CI, 53% to 63%) for ID-CPB. Thirty-three patients died of causes attributed to HD-CPB, compared with no therapy-related deaths among women treated with ID-CPB. Overall survival for the two arms was identical at 71% at 5 years (P = .75). CONCLUSION: HD-CPB with stem-cell support was not superior to ID-CPB for event-free or overall survival among all randomized women with high-risk primary breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Cisplatin-CBV with autologous bone marrow transplantation for relapsed Hodgkin's disease.

The use of high-dose cyclophosphamide, carmustine, and etoposide (CBV) with autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) results in long-term disease-free survival of about 30% in patients with relapsed Hodgkin's disease. Laboratory and clinical data show that cisplatin is synergistic with etoposide and carmustine, with non-overlapping extramedullary toxicity. Twenty-one patients with relapsed Hodgkin's disease that had progressed after both MOPP-like and ABVD-like regimens were treated with CBV plus cisplatin (90 mg/m2) and ABMT. The CR rate was 55%; the three-year disease-free and overall survival were 29% and 38% respectively; these results are comparable to prior experience with CBV. Performance status was strongly correlated with achievement of CR, survival, and time to treatment failure. Nephrotoxicity was seen in 3 patients, and ototoxicity in 1 patient. Although cisplatin could be added to CBV with minimal additional toxicity, the results obtained in this small patient population were not better than those of the earlier regimen. A larger trial in patients not previously exposed to cisplatin may better define the role of its addition to CBV.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stop-flow in mediastinum and thorax for resistant lymphoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Management of patients with heavily pretreated malignant lymphoma failing frontline treatment and salvage high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral stem cell rescue, is problematic. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate isolated thoracic perfusion of drugs by means of stopflow technique. METHODOLOGY: Six patients were enrolled in the study; diagnoses included 4 advanced Hodgkin's disease, 1 primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, and 1 anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Patients were aged 18-37 years; 4 presented with bulky mediastinum. They had never achieved a complete response since all had progressed from front-line treatment, and 3 had even failed salvage high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral stem cell rescue. Cisplatin (100 mg/m2) and melphalan (35 mg/m2) were used. Carmustine (100 mg/m2) were added to these 2 drugs and cytarabine (2000 mg/m2) in patients not previously treated by carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan. Epidoxorubicin (70 mg/m2) was added in patients who previously received a suboptimal dosage of antracycline. Drugs were delivered monthly via aortic perfusion performed by means of Aigner's stop-flow technique. RESULTS: Overall 13 cycles of perfusional chemotherapy were administered with a median number of 2 cycles. During the procedures there were no technical, hemodynamic, or vascular complications, and no deaths occurred during surgery. After 1 month, 6 (100%) objective responses after isolated thoracic perfusion were recorded, 3 (50%) of which were complete. Tolerance to therapy was excellent. Hematological toxicity was mild and transfusional support was needed only in one course. At the last follow-up, 2 patients are alive (1 complete response and 1 very good partial response, maintained). CONCLUSIONS: This new therapeutical approach seems very active in recurrent/refractory malignant lymphoma and may play an important role in this setting.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Modulation of the antiproliferative activity of anticancer drugs in hematopoietic tumor cell lines by the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor 6(5H)-phenanthridinone.

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is involved in the cellular responses to genotoxic damage and its inhibition has been proposed as potentiating anticancer drug activity. Here, we evaluated the ability of the PARP inhibitor, 6(5H)-phenanthridinone, to modulate the antiproliferative activity of bleomycin, carmustin and doxorubicin in a murine (RDM4) and a human (U937) lymphoma cell lines. 6(5H)-phenanthridinone was shown to suppress PARP activity with the same potency in both cell lines. At 25 microM, this compound potentiated the activity of carmustin in RDM4 but not in U937 cells. In contrast, 6(5H)-phenanthridinone failed to affect the doxorubicin toxicity in murine lymphoma cells, whereas it prevented the cytotoxicity of this drug in the human cell line. Altogether, these findings indicated that 6(5H)-phenanthridinone modulates the cytotoxicity of anticancer agents differently according to the cell type and the drug. Therefore, this PARP inhibitor could be considered as the prototype of a new class of adjuncts in cancer chemotherapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Autologous bone marrow transplantation for advanced stage mycosis fungoides.

Patients with advanced stage cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) have a median survival of 2-5 years with no currently available curative therapy. This limited pilot study was performed to determine if CTCL patients could undergo autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) as a curative treatment without developing life-threatening infections. Since selection of a chemotherapeutic regimen is essentially empirical at this time, several drug combinations were screened. Total skin electron beam radiotherapy was used prior to transplantation to control the skin disease of four patients. Six patients have been transplanted and all have engrafted normally. Infections that developed after transplantation responded to conventional therapy and were typical of those observed in other patients undergoing ABMT. Five of the six patients had a complete clinical response to ABMT but three of these responses lasted less than 100 days. Two recent patients who were treated with carmustine, etoposide, and cisplatin are alive more than 1 year after transplantation without evidence of active disease. Thus, although this study does not prove the efficacy of ABMT, it does demonstrate that patients with CTCL can undergo ABMT without developing life-threatening infections and that carmustine-etoposide-cisplatin plus ABMT should be evaluated in subsequent studies to treat patients with poor prognosis CTCL.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Phase I-II evaluation of intra-arterial diaziquone for recurrent malignant astrocytomas.

Diaziquone (AZQ) is a lypophilic alkylating agent that crosses the blood-brain barrier and has shown broad activity in animal tumor models. Five of 12 patients with malignant astrocytoma treated with iv AZQ had clinical and/or radiographic improvement (Schold, Neurology 34:615, 1984). Intra-arterial administration of AZQ to patients with brain tumors should produce higher peak levels of drug in the tumor and should reduce systemic toxicity. Twenty-one patients with astrocytoma (grade II, four; grade III, 11; and grade IV, six), in all of whom irradiation and intra-arterial carmustine chemotherapy failed, received intra-arterial AZQ as a single dose every 28 days. Two of 20 evaluable patients experienced partial responses of 5 and 8+ months, respectively. Four patients had disease stabilization of 3, 4, 5, and 8 months' duration, respectively, and one of these patients had tumor shrinkage (partial response) after seven courses of AZQ. The initial dose in the first three patients was 10 mg/m2, and doses in subsequent groups of three patients were begun at increases of 5 mg/m2. The within-group dose escalation was 5 mg/m2 per course if there was no hematologic toxicity. Dose-limiting toxicity was myelosuppression, which occurred at doses greater than 15 mg/m2. The maximum tolerated dose was 25 mg/m2. Intra-arterial AZQ appears to be of marginal effectiveness in patients refractory to carmustine and offers no advantage over iv AZQ in efficacy or toxicity.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

High-dose combination alkylating agent preparative regimen with autologous bone marrow support: the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Beth Israel Hospital experience.

Fifty-nine patients received 61 courses of cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carmustine combined. The phase I study consisted of seven dose escalations. Dose levels 5 and 6 also included the attempted addition of melphalan at 40 and 80 mg/m2. The maximum tolerated dose for the three-drug combination was 5620 mg/m2 of cyclophosphamide, 165 mg/m2 of cisplatin, and 600 mg/m2 of carmustine. The dose-limiting toxic effect was fatal veno-occlusive disease of the liver in two of five patients treated at the highest dose level. Veno-occlusive disease of the liver was fatal in two of 40 patients treated at Dose level 4, the maximum tolerated dose. The median time to recovery of polymorphonuclear leukocyte counts to greater than 500/microliters and platelet counts to transfusion independence greater than 20,000/microliters was 19 and 22 days, respectively, after marrow reinfusion. Other toxic effects observed included postdischarge pulmonary toxicity, which appeared to respond to prednisone therapy. Thus, this combination of alkylating agents can be combined at close to the transplant dose of each individual agent. The response rate was high despite considerable prior treatment in most patients. Of 16 evaluable patients with breast cancer, 15 responded (six complete responses). Of six evaluable patients with sarcoma, six responded (one complete response). While patients with melanoma had had no prior treatment, 11 of 17 patients responded (65%). There are currently three patients who are disease-free. Two patients with melanoma were rendered disease-free by excisional biopsy of the only remaining nodule after good partial response, and a patient with metastatic breast cancer remains disease-free after a complete response at 36+ months.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Lack of benefit of adjunctive chemotherapy in stage I malignant melanoma: a Southwest Oncology Group Study.

In 1975, the Southwest Oncology Group initiated an adjuvant study in localized malignant melanoma testing the value of aggressive chemotherapy using carmustine, hydroxyurea, and dacarbazine versus a control arm. Median disease-free survival was 7.1 years for the control arm and 6 years for the treatment arm. Survival was identical for both arms with 65% of the patients alive at 6 years. We conclude that carmustine, hydroxyurea, and dacarbazine chemotherapy is of no value as adjuvant treatment for localized melanoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Intralesional implant for treatment of primary oral malignant melanoma in dogs.

The feasibility, safety, and efficacy of a new method of local, sustained-release chemotherapy by use of intralesional cisplatin implants were evaluated in the treatment of oral malignant melanoma. The implant is an injectable viscous gel composed of a protein carrier matrix, a vasoactive modifier, and a chemotherapeutic drug. Twenty dogs with biopsy-proven melanomas were treated at 1- to 2-week intervals by injection with cisplatin implant. Tumors were treated until they resolved or were judged to be unresponsive. In 3 dogs with tumors unresponsive to cisplatin implants, methotrexate implants were used, and in 2 of these dogs, carmustine implants followed the methotrexate. Tumor responses were evaluated by sequential measurements. Melanomas in 14 (70%) of 20 dogs had a > 50% decrease in volume, and in 11 (55%) of these dogs, had a complete response. Tumors with complete responses received a mean cisplatin dose of 11.7 +/- 1.8 mg, delivered in a mean of 2.6 treatments. Two of the dogs with complete response also were treated with methotrexate and carmustine. Implants were well tolerated. Local necrosis, limited to the treatment site, developed in most tumors (17/20) and was associated with tumor response. Systemic toxicosis was minimal; renal insufficiency after cisplatin implants was not evident. Median survival times of dogs with complete tumor response (51 weeks) was substantially greater than that of dogs without local tumor control (10.5 weeks). Recursive partitioning analysis of variables indicated that mandibular tumors of short duration were associated with a positive outcome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Treatment of human B-cell precursor leukemia in SCID mice using a combination of the investigational biotherapeutic agent B43-PAP with cytosine arabinoside.

Combined immunochemotherapy regimens using the investigational biotherapeutic agent B43(anti-CD19)-poke-weed antiviral protein (PAP) immunotoxin may offer an effective treatment for refractory B-cell precursor leukemias. The purpose of the present study was to explore and identify effective combinations of B43-PAP with standard chemotherapeutic drugs, including the anthracyclin doxorubicin, the epipodophyllotoxin etoposide, the nitrosurea carmustine, and the antimetabolite cytosine arabinoside. Here, we report that the B43-PAP plus cytosine arabinoside combination has potent antileukemic activity against human B-cell precursor leukemia in SCID mice and leads to 100% long-term event-free survival from an otherwise invariably fatal leukemia. Surprisingly, none of the other treatment protocols tested, including combinations of B43-PAP with carmustine, doxorubicin, or etoposide, proved more effective than B43-PAP alone.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

High-dose cisplatin with dacarbazine and tamoxifen in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

In an attempt to increase the antitumor effect of cisplatin (50 mg/m2) and dacarbazine (350 mg/m2), each repeated on days 1 to 3 every 4 weeks in patients with metastatic melanoma, tamoxifen was added to the regimen. Before the first course of chemotherapy, the patients received a loading dose of tamoxifen (100 mg orally twice a day for 7 days), followed by a maintenance dose of 10 mg orally twice a day and continued throughout the treatment. Aspirin (325 mg orally every other day) was administered at the same time as the tamoxifen in an attempt to reduce the risk of thromboembolic events. The activity of high-dose cisplatin with dacarbazine and tamoxifen was disappointing. Of 23 evaluable patients, only three responded--an overall response rate of 13% (95% confidence limits, 0% to 27%). These responses consisted of one pathologic complete remission in a patient with nodal metastases, one clinical complete remission in a patient with a very large pelvic mass, and one partial response in another patient with nodal metastases. The duration of responses was 12+, 4, and 4 months, respectively. These data do not support a significant interaction between tamoxifen and cisplatin or dacarbazine. Assuming that tamoxifen is important in the cisplatin, dacarbazine, and carmustine combination, as suggested by others, the most relevant interaction may be between tamoxifen and carmustine.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Gliomatosis cerebri: molecular pathology and clinical course.

Gliomatosis cerebri is a rare, diffusely growing neuroepithelial tumor characterized by extensive brain infiltration involving more than two cerebral lobes. Among 13 patients with gliomatosis cerebri (median age, 46 years), biopsies showed features of diffuse astrocytoma (n = 4), oligoastrocytoma (n = 1), anaplastic astrocytoma (n = 5), anaplastic oligoastrocytoma (n = 1), or glioblastoma (n = 2). Molecular genetic investigation showed TP53 mutations in three of seven tumors and both PTEN mutation and epidermal growth factor receptor overexpression in one tumor. Amplification of CDK4 or MDM2 or homozygous deletion of CDKN2A was not detected. Three of 10 patients receiving radiotherapy showed a partial response (one patient) or had stable disease (two patients) lasting for more than 1 year. Four of six patients treated with procarbazine, carmustine, vincristine chemotherapy demonstrated partial remission (one patient), minor response (two patients), or stable disease (one patient). Median survival time from diagnosis was 14 months (range, 4-91+ months). Infratentorial involvement was associated with shorter survival. We conclude that (1) the molecular genetic alterations in gliomatosis cerebri resemble those in diffuse astrocytomas; (2) the prognosis of gliomatosis cerebri is variable but for at least 50% of patients as poor as for glioblastoma; and (3) some patients respond to radiotherapy and/or procarbazine, carmustine, vincristine chemotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Predictors for pneumonitis during locoregional radiotherapy in high-risk patients with breast carcinoma treated with high-dose chemotherapy and stem-cell rescue.

BACKGROUND: To study the predictive value of serial pulmonary function testing (PFT) for toxicity in patients who have received high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and stem-cell rescue for breast carcinoma. These patients are at risk of developing therapy-related pneumonitis (TRP) during or after radiotherapy (RT). METHODS: Sixty-eight patients who received induction chemotherapy (CT) and consolidation HDCT (cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, carmustine) underwent serial PFTs before induction CT, after HDCT, and before locoregional RT. The rate of TRP, i.e., pulmonary complications of Grade 2 or higher (World Health Organization classification), was studied during and 2 months after RT. We analyzed the time-course of changes in the diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide (DLCO) and forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV(1)) and studied the differences between patients who developed TRP and those who did not. RESULTS: The incidence of TRP was 46%. There were marked reductions in DLCO and FEV(1) at the time of RT compared with baseline (Wilcoxon signed rank test: P < 0.001). However, pre-RT PFT values did not predict subsequent development of TRP. Instead, the ratio of pre-RT DLCO to the minimum post- HDCT DLCO, i.e., trend of improvement, predicted the development of TRP in patients (logistic regression analysis: P = 0.048). At a cutoff level of 1, the positive and negative predictive values for this ratio were 61% and 87%, respectively. There was an association between this ratio and a longer interval between HDCT and RT (Spearman rank correlation: P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the directional trend of DLCO after HDCT, i.e., no recovery from nadir values, is a predictor for TRP. TRP patients have a shorter median interval between HDCT and RT than asymptomatic patients. To minimize the occurrence of TRP, one should consider either delaying RT beyond 2 months following carmustine-based HDCT to allow the PFTs to partly recover, or confirm apositive directional trend for improvement of DLCO at the start of RT compared to the post-HDCT nadir value.

Adult↗