Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0010200 (cough)
 23,843 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The pharmacology, toxicity, and therapeutic effectiveness of etoposide (VP-16) given by the intrapleural route were examined in a phase I trial. Ten patients with malignant pleural effusion received 100, 150, or 225 mg/m2 VP-16 infused over 2 h into the pleural space after drainage of pleural fluid. The administration of VP-16 was tolerated well, with no local pain, increase in cough, dyspnea, or infection. Myelosuppression was mild at doses of 150 mg/m2 or less but severe at 225 mg/m2. Drug levels were followed in both plasma and pleural fluid for up to 12 h. Clearance of VP-16 from the pleural cavity was low at 2 ml/min m2. Peak pleural-fluid drug levels in patients receiving 225 mg/m2 exceeded 300 micrograms/ml, whereas peak drug concentrations in corresponding plasma samples obtained at the same time amounted to less than 10 micrograms/ml. Serial chest X-rays showed no disappearance of pleural effusion in nine evaluable patients. However, follow-up investigation of pleural fluid characteristics [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and cytologic examination] suggested some evidence of local therapeutic benefit.
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PMID:Intrapleural etoposide for malignant effusion. 218 91

Thirty-nine adults with solid tumors were treated on a Phase I study of menogaril administered i.v. once each week. Granulocytopenia was dose-limiting at a menogaril dose of 115 mg/m2/wk. Ten patients required delays in treatment of 1-4 weeks (median, 1 week) at some point during their treatment until they recovered from granulocytopenia. The average dose intensity possible on this schedule was at least 80% higher than that possible using a single-day or a five-times-daily schedule every 4 weeks. One patient developed infection while neutropenic, and only one patient developed thrombocytopenia. Dexamethasone appeared to reduce the degree of myelosuppression. Gastrointestinal toxicity was quite mild, and alopecia was uncommon. Arm vein phlebitis frequently followed menogaril administration, requiring the use of Hickman catheters (or equivalents). Two patients had myocardial infarcts while on treatment. It was unclear if the menogaril was in any way responsible. Reversible dyspnea and cough (with no evidence of congestive heart failure) were seen in some patients. Responses were seen in patients with gliomas, renal-cell carcinoma, and bladder carcinoma, and marked subjective improvement occurred in a single patient with prostate cancer. We plan to conduct a Phase II study in astrocytoma patients using a menogaril dose of 115 mg/m2/wk i.v.
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PMID:Phase I study of weekly intravenous administration of menogaril to adults with solid tumors. 253 40

Use of the antineoplastic agents frequently causes myelosuppression and neutropenia. Neutropenic patients often fail to manifest the usual signs and symptoms of infection; they are unable to mount an adequate inflammatory response and infection disseminates rapidly. There is a direct correlation between the degree of granulocytopenia and the incidence and severity of infections. During the period of granulocytopenia (the vulnerable period) the risk of infection is high. While safeguarding the patient throughout the entire period of hospitalization, nurses should be more vigilant during this time. They must be alert to subtle signs of infection and the patient should be monitored closely for increased temperature (greater than or equal to 101 degrees F), mouth sores, sore throat, cough, congestion, or dysuria. The patient undergoing chemotherapy faces many threats to survival. This patient also offers an extraordinary challenge to nursing practitioners because good care may significantly improve the patient's quality and length of life.
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PMID:Symposium on infections in the compromised host. Hematologic effects of cancer chemotherapy. 391 67

We report our experience giving aerosolized pentamidine as prophylaxis for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) to 9 children (mean age, 7.33 years; range 3-17 years) with leukemia who were unable to tolerate trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) due to allergy or myelosuppression. The dose of pentamidine was modified for each child to correct for weight and approximate alveolar ventilation. We were able to administer the drug to younger children by using a cushioned face mask in place of the standard mouthpiece. One child experienced moderate coughing with administration of pentamidine. He and four others with a past medical history suggestive of reactive airways disease were pretreated with inhaled albuterol. No other adverse effects were noted. Treatment lasted an average of 8.11 +/- 4.1 months per child; no case of PCP occurred. We conclude that aerosolized pentamidine can be administered to even very young children and may be of benefit to all immunosuppressed children unable to use TMP-SMX prophylaxis. The adjusted dose used here appears to be safe, but further studies regarding drug delivery and efficacy are needed.
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PMID:The use of aerosolized pentamidine for prophylaxis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in children with leukemia. 783 21

Approximately one half of prescribed radiotherapy is given for palliation of symptoms due to incurable cancer. Distressing symptoms including pain, bleeding, and obstruction can often be relieved with minimal toxic effects. Painful osseous metastasis is common in oncologic practice. Ninety percent of patients with symptomatic bone metastases obtain some pain relief with a lowdose, brief course of palliative radiotherapy. One half of the responding patients may experience complete pain relief. A single dose of 800 cGy in the setting of painful bone metastasis may provide pain control comparable to more protracted treatment at a higher dose of radiation. Patients with lytic disease in weight-bearing bones, particularly in the presence of cortical destruction, should be considered for prophylactic surgical stabilization of their condition. Routinely a brief, fractionated course of radiotherapy is given postoperatively. Pain due to multiple bone metastases uncontrolled by analgesics can be managed with single doses of halfbody irradiation. Doses of 600 cGy delivered to the upper half-body (above the umbilicus) and 800 cGy to the lower half-body (from the umbilicus to the middle of the femur) will provide some pain relief in 73% of patients. Half-body techniques have been investigated as prophylactic treatment, as a complement to local-field irradiation, and as fractionated rather than singledose therapy. Although intravenous administration of strontium 89 has been associated with myelosuppression, this treatment has been shown (a) to relieve pain due to bone metastasis and (b) to delay development of new painful sites. Recent data from phase III trials demonstrated that bisphosphonates have a role in reducing skeletal morbidity due to bone metastasis. Bone pain was reduced, and the incidence of pathologic fracture and the need for future radiotherapy was decreased. Radiotherapy relieves clinical symptoms in 70% to 90% of patients with brain metastases. Brief treatment schedules (e.g., 2000 cGy in five fractions over 1 week) are as effective as more prolonged therapy. Patients with solitary brain metastasis and no extracranial disease or controlled extracranial disease should be considered for surgical resection, because phase III data indicate enhanced survival with such an approach. Whole-brain radiotherapy is routinely administered postoperatively. A phase III study is examining the impact of accelerated fractionated doses of radiotherapy (two treatments per day) on survival of patients with brain metastases. Stereotaxic radiosurgical treatment is becoming increasingly available and permits delivery of radiation to metastatic intracranial tumor with minimal exposure of normal surrounding brain This treatment is most commonly used at the time of a solitary recurrence of disease in patients who previously received whole-brain radiotherapy. A role for this modality in newly diagnosed brain metastases remains to be defined. Chest symptoms are common in patients with locally advanced lung cancer and are effectively palliated with one 1000 cGy or two 850 cGy one fraction doses of radiation to the thoracic inlet and mediastinum. Chest pain and hemoptysis are more effectively palliated than cough and dyspnea. In patients with stage III cancer there is no compelling evidence that radiotherapy confers a survival advantage, and it may be reasonable to administer thoracic radiotherapy only when the patient has significant symptoms and the goal is to achieve control of these symptoms. Approximately 75% of the cases of superior vena cava syndrome are due to lung cancer, and small-cell lung cancer is the most common histologic type. A histologic diagnosis should be obtained before treatment is started, because detection of lymphoma or small-cell carcinoma would necessitate systemic therapy. Eighty percent of the patients with vena cava syndrome due to malignant disease achieve symptom relief with a brief, fractionated, palliative course of rad
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PMID:Radiotherapy for palliation of symptoms in incurable cancer. 920 88

JM216 is an orally administered platinum analogue. We undertook this study to determine the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of JM216 when administered with concomitant radiotherapy to the chest (200 cGy daily, 5 x/week) in patients with locoregionally advanced non-small cell lung (NSCLC) or esophageal cancer. Patients were excluded for inadequate bone marrow reserve, prior radiotherapy to the primary tumor or previous treatment with platinum drugs. A dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was defined using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) and consisted of grade > or = 2 renal, hepatic, cardiac, or pulmonary toxicity or grade > or = 3 hematologic, neurological, or gastrointestinal toxicity. A total of 23 patients were registered; two never received treatment and are excluded from analyses. Six patients were treated at a dose of 30 mg/m2/day for 5 days with two grade 2 DLT's: cough (1 pt) and elevated trans-aminases (1 pt). Seven evaluable patients were treated at 60 mg/m2/day and seven experienced grade 3 or 4 toxicity, five related to myelosuppression. The dose was then reduced to 45 mg/m2/d. Eight patients were evaluable for toxicity, of which 5 experienced DLT: myelosuppression (3 pts), esophagitis (2 pts), dyspnea (1 pt), and elevated creatinine (1 pt). Fourteen patients were evaluable for efficacy, of which 6 had an objective response, including one complete response. The recommended phase II dose of JM216 with concurrent radiation therapy is 30 mg/m2/d for 5 days. The major DLT is myelosuppression with only limited increased toxicity within the field of radiation. This conceivably may limit the use of JM216 as a radiation sensitizer.
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PMID:A phase I trial of the oral platinum analogue JM216 with concomitant radiotherapy in advanced malignancies of the chest. 1156 89

Pneumocystis jiroveci (formerly carinii) pneumonia (PCP) is a serious opportunistic infection in children and adolescents with cancer. It was the most common cause of death among children receiving chemotherapy prior to the inclusion of PCP prophylaxis as part of standard care for children with leukemia. The incidence of PCP has decreased significantly since initiation of prophylaxis; however, breakthrough cases continue to occur. Hematologic malignancies, brain tumors necessitating prolonged corticosteroid therapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, prolonged neutropenia, and lymphopenia are the most important risk factors for PCP in children not infected with HIV. Of children with leukemia, 15-20% may develop PCP in the absence of prophylaxis. Infection with P. jiroveci occurs early in life in most individuals. However, clinically apparent disease occurs almost exclusively in immunocompromised persons. Dyspnea, cough, hypoxia, and fever are the most common presenting symptoms of PCP. Chest radiography and high-resolution CT scans of the chest demonstrate a characteristic ground-glass pattern. Induced sputum analysis and bronchoalveolar lavage are the diagnostic procedures of choice. Gomori's methenamine-silver stain, Geimsa or Wright's stain, and monoclonal immunofluorescent antibody stains are most commonly used to make a diagnosis. However, identification of P. jiroveci DNA using polymerase chain reaction assays in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid is more sensitive. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ; cotrimoxazole) is the recommended drug for the treatment of PCP. Patients who are intolerant of TMP-SMZ or who have not responded to treatment after 5-7 days of therapy with TMP-SMZ should be treated with pentamidine. A short course of corticosteroids is recommended for moderate to severe cases of PCP within the first 72 hours after diagnosis. Mutations in the dihydropteroate synthetase gene may confer resistance to TMP-SMZ; however, the clinical relevance of these mutations is not well established. TMP-SMZ is the most commonly used agent for prophylaxis. Myelosuppression is the most important adverse effect of TMP-SMZ and the most frequent cause for choosing alternative prophylactic agents in children undergoing chemotherapy. Alternative agents for chemoprophylaxis include dapsone, aerosolized pentamidine, and atovaquone. Alternative prophylactic agents must be used in patients developing myelosuppression secondary to TMP-SMZ or dapsone.
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PMID:Management of Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in children receiving chemotherapy. 1792 2