ONCOLOGY Vol 14 No 12

Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) is a novel antineoplastic platinum derivative that may exert its cytotoxic effects by blocking DNA replication/transcription, thus resulting in cell death in proliferating cells, as well as apoptosis.

Over the past several years, the clinical presentation of prostate cancer has evolved so that more patients than ever before are presenting with clinically localized disease. However, a significant number of men continue to

A pilot study was performed at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center to determine the feasibility of using thalidomide in a population of renal-cell carcinoma patients who had progressive disease despite chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Metastatic renal-cell carcinoma patients with adequate oral function were entered onto a study after signing an internal review board-approved informed consent. There were no exclusion criteria for prior therapy. Nineteen previously treated patients and one untreated patient with progressive renal-cell carcinoma received oral thalidomide as a single agent. The starting dose was 200 mg and the dose was increased by 100 to 200 mg every week until it reached 1,200 mg/d. Response was assessed on the basis of a radiographic reduction of the metastatic sites involved. A case report describing one of the patients involved in the pilot trial is included. [ONCOLOGY 14(Suppl 13):33-36, 2000]

The Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) of the National Cancer Institute(NCI) currently sponsors more than 160 Investigational New Drug applications

The current standard of care for patients with stage T3 rectal cancer is adjuvant combined-modality treatment with radiation and fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy. Although data from randomized phase III trials comparing

A significant number of patients with colorectal cancer will present with hepatic metastases as their only site of metastatic disease. Surgical resection in patients with a limited number of metastases will lead to long-term

Tobacco use, particularly smoking, remains the number 1 cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. This report of the Surgeon General on smoking and health is the first to offer a composite review of the various methods used to

Second-line therapy is a relatively newconcept for gastrointestinal oncologists. Although retreatment with fluorouracil

Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) has demonstrated significant activity in a variety of tumor types in addition to colorectal cancer. Several studies have reported on the effectiveness of oxaliplatin as single-agent treatment or in

Among the serious complications associated with bone marrow transplantation are invasive fungal infections caused by organisms such as Candida and Aspergillus species and end-organ disease caused by

No adequate second- or third-line therapy is available in the United States for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and disease progression following treatment with fluorouracil (5-FU)-based therapy and an irinotecan (CPT-

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. The mainstay of chemotherapy in colorectal cancer patients for the past 40 years has been fluorouracil (5-FU). Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) is a novel platinum compound with promising activity in colorectal cancer. As a single agent, oxaliplatin has produced response rates of 12% to 24% in patients with previously untreated advanced colorectal cancer, and 10% to 11% in patients with relapsed or refractory advanced colorectal cancer. In phase II trials, oxaliplatin combined with 5-FU, with or without leucovorin, was associated with response rates of 60% and higher when used as front-line therapy, and when used in patients with relapsed or refractory advanced colorectal cancer, response rates ranged from 25% to 50%. In the front-line setting, two randomized trials of 5-FU and leucovorin, with or without oxaliplatin, demonstrated that the addition of oxaliplatin significantly increases response rate and time to tumor progression, but not survival, over 5-FU plus leucovorin alone. The reasons for this discrepancy are unclear, and several possibilities are being considered. Additional phase III trials are underway to clarify the contribution of oxaliplatin in the treatment of patients with locally advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer. [ONCOLOGY 14(Suppl 11):9-14, 2000]

Chemotherapy for advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction carcinomas remains suboptimal. Both irinotecan (Camptosar) and cisplatin (Platinol) are active against this group of malignancies. This article focuses

The new platinum compound oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) appears tohave activity, either alone or in combination, as both first- and second-line

The fastest growing segment of the US population is the group over the age of 65 years. In the next 30 years, this group will comprise over 20% of the population. Because 60% of all cancers occur in this age group, there will be an expected rise in the total cancer burden.

The world’s population is aging. Older age is associated with an increase in the incidence of cancer, especially cancer of the breast, lung, prostate, and colon. The management of older patients with cancer is biased by the

Over the past several years, the clinical presentation of prostate cancer has evolved so that more patients than ever before are presenting with clinically localized disease. However, a significant number of men continue to