Wen-Jen Hwu, MD, PhD

Thalidomide (Thalomid) has been commercially available in the United States since October 1998. The use of thalidomide in the treatment of malignancies is growing as its potential utility for treating multiple myeloma, renal-cell cancer, and AIDS-

Neovascularization has been shown to be a critical step in the progression of metastatic disease. Most tumors in humans do not grow beyond 2 to 3 mm³ without neovascularization. Angiogenesis increases tumor growth via perfusion and paracrine

Thalidomide (Thalomid) is a derivative of glutamic acid that was introduced as a nonbarbiturate hypnotic in 1956 by a West German company. It was used widely as an over-the-counter sedative and antiemetic drug in countries other than the United States. Because of its presumed safety and antinausea effect, it was given to pregnant women suffering from morning sickness and to influenza patients experiencing nausea. Subsequently, over 12,000 malformed babies were born as the result of fetal exposure to thalidomide early in pregnancy. When its teratogenic effects-notably flipperlike limbs-became known, thalidomide was withdrawn from the market in 1961. In the mid-1960s, after it was given as a sedative to a small number of leprosy patients in Israel afflicted with erythema nodosum leprosum, it was noted that the patients’ symptoms rapidly and markedly improved.

Ventura and Roberts (abstract #2268) made an interesting observation of a disease response in a patient with angiosarcoma. This patient initially received radiation to a large mass in the neck and had a minor response-less than 10% shrinkage of the

In his comprehensive review, Dr. Rajkumar provides a summary of the current status of thalidomide (Thalomid) therapy in cancer. As discussed in the article, it was the teratogenic effects, particularly phocomelia, that prompted researchers to

Although melanoma is a relatively chemoresistant malignancy, systemic chemotherapy remains the primary treatment for metastatic melanoma. The observation of vasculogenic mimicry in aggressive melanoma has

In the phase II study of thalidomide (Thalomid) in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, Marx et al (abstract #613) concluded that there was no correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels and response or