Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0000729 (abdominal cramps)
 531 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, adverse effects, and dosage of ticlopidine are reviewed. Ticlopidine appears to inhibit platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate. Ticlopidine hydrochloride is rapidly absorbed after oral administration, and maximum antiplatelet effects occur one to three hours after the dose. In multicenter, randomized, double-blind trials, ticlopidine was more effective than aspirin or placebo in preventing stroke, myocardial infarction, or death caused by vascular events. Ticlopidine was more effective than aspirin in preventing recurrent transient ischemic attacks after six months of therapy. Ticlopidine has also been used to prevent occlusion and improve patency of aortocoronary bypass grafts, to prevent ischemic ulcers in patients with chronic arterial occlusive disease, and to slow the progression of diabetic microangiopathy. The most serious adverse effect, neutropenia, occurred in about 1% of patients. The most frequently reported adverse effects are diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. Ticlopidine is indicated for reducing the risk of thrombotic stroke in patients who have experienced a minor stroke, transient ischemic attack, or completed thrombotic stroke. The recommended dosage is 500 mg/day in two divided doses taken with food. Ticlopidine is an alternative agent for the primary and secondary prevention of stroke. Because of the risk of neutropenia and agranulocytosis and the high cost of therapy, ticlopidine should be reserved for patients who are intolerant of or lack benefit from aspirin.
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PMID:Ticlopidine: a new platelet aggregation inhibitor. 161 11

CPT-11 (irinotecan) is a promising anticancer agent with a novel mechanism of action dependent on the inhibition of the DNA eukaryotic enzyme, topoisomerase I. The clinical utility of CPT-11 in advanced colorectal cancer has been documented in more than 400 patients recruited in phase II clinical trials in Europe, Japan, and United States. Among 178 eligible patients in a multicenter European study, the overall response rate to CPT-11 on a once-every-3-weeks regimen was 18%, and the median duration of response was 9.1 months. Thirty-two percent of the patients had no evidence of disease progression at 6 months. These results were similar in chemotherapy-naive and pretreated patients. These findings are consistent with the results of other studies conducted in Japan and the United States in which a weekly CPT-11 regimen was associated with response rates of 15% to 32% in chemotherapy-naive or pretreated patients. The principal adverse events of CPT-11 are neutropenia and delayed diarrhea, which in the European studies developed as grade 3 or 4 toxicity in 21% and 12% of the cycles (47% and 38% of patients), respectively. Neutropenia did not appear to be cumulative, with total recovery by day 22 in most cases. Loperamide was considered the most effective agent for controlling delayed diarrhea. Other adverse events included an early cholinergic-like syndrome (consisting of diaphoresis, early diarrhea, and abdominal cramps), nausea and vomiting, fatigue, and alopecia. In conclusion, CPT-11 has shown promising antitumor activity in the treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, including those refractory to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based regimens, suggesting no cross-resistance to 5-FU. CPT-11 appears to have activity similar to that of 5-FU in first-line treatment and, moreover, remains active after failure of 5-FU therapy. The specific gastrointestinal toxicity is manageable, and a better control of this type of toxicity is expected in the future. CPT-11 would therefore appear a welcome addition to the oncology armamentarium for this difficult-to-treat malignancy.
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PMID:CPT-11 in the treatment of colorectal cancer: clinical efficacy and safety profile. 863 52

A retrospective evaluation of 200 consecutive recipients of autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) was conducted to ascertain the incidence and outcome of infection with Clostridium difficile. The diagnosis was confirmed in 14 patients with diarrhea (15 episodes) at a median of 33 days after stem cell infusion. Five patients were neutropenic at the time of diagnosis. Every individual had adverse known risk factors such as recent or current use of antibiotic, corticosteroid and antiviral therapy, recent administration of myeloablative chemotherapy and numerous, prolonged periods of hospitalization. Diarrhea, frequently hemorrhagic, was the most common presenting feature along with fever, abdominal cramps and abdominal distention. Diagnosis was established by the stool-cytotoxin test. Response to standard treatment with oral vancomycin or metronidazole was prompt despite the presence of several adverse prognostic features in these patients. There was only one instance of relapse which was also treated successfully. Several transplant-related variables such as age, sex, underlying malignancy, myelo-ablative regimen, duration of neutropenia, and prophylactic use of oral ampicillin underwent statistical analysis but failed to be predictive of C. difficile infection in such a setting. Finally, C. difficile is not uncommon after autologous PBSCT and must be included in the differential diagnosis in any such patient with diarrhea.
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PMID:Incidence and outcome of Clostridium difficile infection following autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. 1037 70

A Phase I study was performed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), toxicities, and pharmacokinetic profile of irinotecan (CPT-11) and its active metabolites when given on a once-every-3-week schedule. Thirty-four patients with advanced refractory solid malignancies were treated with CPT-11 (240-340 mg/m2) administered as a 90-min i.v. infusion every 3 weeks. Patients were divided into two groups: those with and those without prior abdominal/pelvic (AP) radiotherapy. Gastrointestinal toxicity (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) and hematological toxicity (leukopenia and neutropenia) were dose-limiting side effects. Other common toxicities included anorexia, asthenia, and acute cholinergic symptoms (abdominal cramps, diaphoresis, and lacrimation). For patients with no prior AP radiation therapy, the MTD was determined to be 320 mg/m2, whereas those with prior AP radiation therapy had a MTD of 290 mg/m2. Dose-proportional increases in the mean area under the concentration-time curves for CPT-11, SN-38, and SN-38G were not observed over the narrow dose range studied. Mean values of terminal phase half-life, clearance, terminal phase volume of distribution, and steady-state volume of distribution for CPT-11 were 12.4 +/- 1.8 h, 13.0 +/- 3.8 liters/h/m2, 234 +/- 83 liters/m2, and 123 +/- 38 liters/m2, respectively. The pharmacodynamic analyses indicated the strongest correlation to be between SN-38 area under the concentration-time curves and neutropenia (p = 0.60; P = 0.001). A total of five responses (one complete response and four partial responses) were observed in the cohort of 32 patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal carcinoma. In conclusion, gastrointestinal toxicity and hematological toxicity were the dose-limiting toxicities of CPT-11 when administered as a 90-min infusion every 3 weeks. In this trial, the recommended Phase II starting dose for patients with no prior AP radiation therapy was found to be 320 mg/m2; for patients with prior AP radiation, the recommended Phase II starting dose was 290 mg/m2. This once-every-3-week schedule has been incorporated into a Phase I trial of CPT-11 combined with 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin.
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PMID:Phase I dose-finding and pharmacokinetic trial of irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11) using a once-every-three-week dosing schedule for patients with advanced solid tumor malignancy. 1087 73

This phase II study aimed at determining the efficacy and safety of irinotecan combined with thalidomide in adults with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) not taking enzyme-inducing anticonvulsants (EIACs). Adult patients (> or =18 years) with recurrent GBM with up to three relapses following surgery and radiation therapy were eligible for this trial. The primary end point was rate of progression-free survival at 6 months (PFS-6); secondary end points were response rate, overall survival, and toxicity. Patients were treated in 6-week cycles with 125 mg/m(2) irinotecan weekly for 4 weeks followed by 2 weeks off treatment and 100 mg of thalidomide daily increased as tolerated to 400 mg/day. Of 32 evaluable patients, 8 (25%) were alive and progression free at 6 months. The median PFS was 13 weeks. One patient experienced a complete response, one a partial response, and 19 stable disease. Median overall survival time from entry into the study was 36 weeks, and the 1-year survival rate was 34%. Adverse events (grade 3 or 4) included diarrhea, abdominal cramps, lymphopenia, neutropenia, and fatigue. Two of the four deaths that occurred were possibly due to treatment-related toxicity. The combination of irinotecan, a cytotoxic agent, and thalidomide, an antiangiogenic agent, shows promising activity against recurrent GBM in patients not receiving EIACs and warrants further study. The results also provide support for similar strategies using combination therapies with newer targeted antiangiogenic agents to generate effective therapies against malignant gliomas.
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PMID:Phase II trial of irinotecan and thalidomide in adults with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. 1831 17