Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019079 (hemoptysis)
 6,129 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Gemcitabine, a novel nucleoside analog, shows reproducible response rates of 20% and above in single-agent studies in non-small cell lung cancer. In the phase II studies reported, chemotherapy-naive patients received gemcitabine (starting doses, 800 to 1,250 mg/ m2) as a single agent on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. In three large studies of 82, 84, and 161 patients, response rates were 22.5%, 20%, and 21.8%, respectively. The median duration of response in these studies was 8.1, 12.7, and 7.6 months, respectively. The median length of survival for all patients (responders and non-responders) was 8.1, 9.2, and 9.4 months, respectively. Three trials in Japan involving 206 patients produced response rates of 16.3%, 26.0%, and 20.9%. A US phase I/II study of gemcitabine at doses of 1,000 to 2,800 mg/ m2 recorded an overall response rate of 26% in a population of mainly stage IV (87%) patients. Responses were seen across disease stages and histologic subtypes in performance status 0, 1, and 2 patients and in the elderly. Gemcitabine produced marked benefit (lasting 2 to 5 months) in a number of disease-related symptoms, most notably cough, hemoptysis, and dyspnea. Improvements in performance status were seen in 52% of patients receiving gemcitabine. Gemcitabine was well tolerated with few of the side effects normally associated with cytotoxic drugs.
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PMID:Single-agent activity of gemcitabine in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. 889 80

Recent studies have indicated that chemotherapy not only provides some survival benefit, but also reduces tumor-related symptoms and improves the performance status of patients receiving chemotherapy. Data from single-agent gemcitabine studies demonstrate improvements in a range of tumor symptoms, including cough, hemoptysis, pain, dyspnea, and anorexia, as well as increases in performance status. Indeed, more patients benefit from gemcitabine chemotherapy than suggested by the objective response rate. Surveys also have shown that patients are much more likely to accept chemotherapy for what is perceived by health care professionals as potentially small benefits. Gemcitabine has a role in the palliative treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
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PMID:Gemcitabine: symptomatic benefit in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. 920 9

As an adjunct to a meta-analysis of chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a survey was conducted in England and Wales of clinicians' views on the role of chemotherapy in NSCLC and the benefits it would have to offer to lead them to change their practice. Radiotherapists, medical oncologists, surgeons and physicians specializing in thoracic medicine, and physicians of palliative medicine were asked their views on the treatment of three case histories of 65 yr old men: Case 1, resected tumour involving a hilar lymph node (tumour (T)2, node (N)1, metastasis (M)0); Case 2, tumour that had spread to mediastinal lymph nodes bilaterally (T2, N3, M0); and Case 3, metastatic cancer (M1) accompanied by minor haemoptysis. Six hundred and ninety eight (85%) of the 821 clinicians responded. For Case 1, 74% would not recommend any adjuvant treatment, 24% would recommend radiotherapy, and <1% chemotherapy, and there was little expectation that adjuvant treatment would improve survival. For Case 2, 68% would recommend radiotherapy, 11% chemotherapy, and 1% surgery, 7% recommending a combination. Adjuvant treatment, regardless of modality, was expected to improve survival. For Case 3, only 11% would recommend chemotherapy, but 26% if the patient was aged < or = 50 yrs. There was little expectation of survival beyond 1 yr, or of improving survival with chemotherapy. For all three cases, most of those not recommending chemotherapy would require it to achieve substantially improved survival for them to use it routinely. Surgery alone is currently considered sufficient for resectable non-small cell lung cancer. Chemotherapy is rarely recommended for disease of any stage.
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PMID:Survey on the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in England and Wales. 923 Feb 46

The efficacy of palliative radiotherapy of NSCLC was evaluated. 70 patients with histologically and cytologically confirmed advanced NSCLC were palliativelly irradiated in Department of Oncology I. Medical Faculty Charles University, Prague, in the period 1/93-12/94. 46 patients were evaluable for response (32 men, 14 women, median age 66.1, range 46-82). Median survival was 24.5 weeks. The most frequent intrathoracal symptoms were: cough 54%, chest pain 41%, dyspnoe 54%, hemoptysis 13%, VCS sy 7%. Palliation of the main symptoms has been achieved in 68% for cough, in 83% for hemoptysis, in 89% for chest pain, in 60% for dyspnoe and in 100% for VCS sy (in combination with chemotherapy). The median duration of palliation was 14.7 weeks for all the main symptoms, e.g. more than 50% of overall survival. Two fractionations schedules for the chest radiotherapy were used: 30 Gy/10 fr/2 wks (67%) or short regimens 8-20 Gy/1-2 fr/1-2 wks (33%). The results of palliation and survival are similar for both treatment schedules. Side effects has been infrequent, only 6 patients (13%) had dysphagia during the treatment. Radiation myelopathy has been not observed in any case. The therapeutical effect has been achieved in the more than 80% cases of pain, hemoptysis and VCS syndrome.
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PMID:[Palliative radiotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma]. 942 14

Thirty seven cases (30 males; 7 females) of advanced non-small cell lung cancer were treated with short course of palliative radiotherapy. All the patients were inoperable. Their main symptoms were related to primary intrathoracic disease and poor performance status. Radiotherapy was delivered to a total dose of 17 Gy in two fractions one week apart. Ninety percent of the patients had cough, 50% complained of haemoptysis, 45% chest pain and 30% breathlessness. Palliation of main symptoms was achieved in majority of the patients, more than 90% in haemoptysis, 60% in cough, 70% in chest pain and 50% in breathlessness. Mean duration of palliation was four months and performance status improved in 60% of the patients. Short course radiotherapy of 17 Gy in two weekly fractions is recommended in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) having poor performance status.
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PMID:Inoperable non-small cell lung cancer: palliative radiotherapy with two weekly fractions. 991 36

We evaluated the relationship of clinical characteristics and survival in 1,635 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated in Brazil. The following variables were included: sex, age, smoking, Karnofsky's performance status (PS), weight loss, symptoms at diagnosis (cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, chest pain, wheezing, and hoarseness), presence of superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS), histologic type, TNM stage, and therapeutic modality (surgery, chemotherapy [CT] and radiotherapy [RT]). Multivariate prognostic models were obtained by Cox regression. Patients unsuitable for surgery or who had recidivant disease were elected to further RT and/or CT, and long-term results in this group were equivalent to those in the group treated only by surgery. A diagnosis of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, small tumors, absence of hoarseness, treatment by surgery, and RT were independent factors related to good overall survival in stage I and II. Weight loss and clinical signs of SVCS were related to poor prognosis in stage III. PS, diagnosis of adenocarcinoma or undifferentiated carcinoma, absence of weight loss and dyspnea, NO or N1 disease, ability to receive RT, CT, and to perform some palliative surgical procedure were good prognostic factors in stage IV. Clinical features of patients with NSCLC at diagnosis offer additional information to estimate their prognosis.
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PMID:Clinical factors and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer. 1052 Oct 57

Best Supportive Care (BSC) is the treatment of choice when cure is not achievable with anticancer treatments and involves management of disease-related symptoms. In the palliative treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) radiation therapy has for a long time been the cornerstone of symptom management, although the best schedule is still to be defined. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, has been excluded from classical definitions of BSC and has been reserved only for selected patient populations in which a survival benefit was demonstrated using cisplatin-based regimens. We reviewed randomized trials on both palliative radiotherapy and chemotherapy in order to assess the impact of anticancer treatments on quality of life in advanced NSCLC patients. While no randomized trials compared radiation therapy with a control arm not including it, several randomized trials assessed the use of different schedules. Hypofractionated schedules seem to have comparable palliative activity when compared with the standard fractionated regimens, at least in metastatic, poor-prognosis patients. In locally advanced, inoperable NSCLC higher radiation doses administered with conventional fractionation achieve better results in terms of local control and survival. The rate of palliation of local symptoms is high, being 60-80% for chest pain and hemoptysis, while breathlessness and cough are controlled at a somewhat lower rate (50-70%). General symptoms (fatigue, anorexia, and depression) are affected in a minority of patients. Chemotherapy was compared with BSC in several randomized trials, in some of which an analysis of the quality of life was included. Results are consistent in favor of its palliative role and, when local symptom control is assessed, rates of palliation seem similar to those achieved by radiation. Benefits apply to metastatic NSCLC patients with good performance status, low body weight loss, age below 70-75. However, some studies support the use of chemotherapy also in patients with poor prognostic features. A comparison in terms of quality of life and symptom palliation between different chemotherapy regimens is the object of few trials. Both chemotherapy and radiation have an important role in the palliative treatment of advanced NSCLC patients and should be included in BSC programs. Future randomized trials should assess the best way of combining these two approaches.
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PMID:Best supportive care in non-small cell lung cancer: is there a role for radiotherapy and chemotherapy? 1139 3

Thirty-nine patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, refractory or resistant to platinum or taxanes derivatives were treated on an out-patient basis with vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 intravenous (I.V.) on days 1 and 8 followed by gemcitabine 800 mg/m2 l.V. on days 1 and 8. Chemotherapy was repeated every 3 weeks. The patients were evaluated for response every two cycles of treatment. All 39 patients were assessable for toxicity and 35 were assessable for response. On an intent to treat analysis, only 1 (2.6%) patient achieved a partial response (PR) (95% CI 0.09% to 17.6%); fourteen patients (35.9%, 95% CI 29.45% to 67.4%) had stable disease (SD) and 24 (61.5%) had progressive disease (PD). The median time to tumor progression (TTP) was 4.7 months (range 0.13 to 18.9 months), the median survival time was 7.3 months (range 0.6 to 18.9 months) and the 1-year survival rate was 35%. Clinical benefit response including improvement of PS, dyspnea and anorexia, pain and cough reduction and cessation of hemoptysis and fever was observed in 10% to 50% of patients. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred only in 2 (5.2%) patients. Five patients experienced febrile neutropenia, which was successfully treated with G-CSF and broad-spectrum antibiotics. No patient experienced grade 3/4 anaemia or thrombocytopenia. One patient experienced grade 4 fatigue and stopped the treatment. Nausea / vomiting, fatigue, neurotoxicity, diarrhea and fever were mild in the majority of patients and did not result in any clinically significant problem. There were no treatment-related deaths. In conclusion, the combination of gemcitabine and vinorelbine showed low objective response rate in patients previously treated with CDDP/taxanes-containing regimens. This regimen was relatively well-tolerated and was associated with prolonged 1-year survival and improvement in cancer related symptoms. To validate these findings a randomized trial of gemcitabine and vinorelbine versus taxotere or best supportive care is required.
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PMID:An out-patient second-line chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine in patients with non-small cell lung cancer previously treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. A phase II study of the Hellenic co-operative Oncology Group. 1171 2

The aim of the present phase II study was to assess the activity and safety of gemcitabine-cisplatin combination in advanced NSCLC, and to evaluate the impact of this regimen in terms of symptom benefit and quality of life (QOL). Eighty patients with pathologically confirmed advanced (stage IIIB and IV) NSCLC were enrolled into this study. Gemcitabine was administered on days 1, 8 and 15 at a dose of 1000 mg/m(2), and cisplatin was given on day 2 at a dose of 100 mg/m(2). The cycles were repeated every 4 weeks. The impact of treatment on QOL and on tumor-related symptoms was evaluated with the validated EORTC forms (QLQ-C30 and LC-13). The regimen was relatively well tolerated. Myelosuppresion was the principal toxicity. Grade 3/4 neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia occurred in 58, 65 and 30% of patients respectively. In 143 cycles (35%) the administration of gemcitabine on day 15 was omitted due to myelosuppresion. Non-hematological toxicities were generally mild. Among the 76 patients available for response evaluation, there were 5 complete responses (7%) and 26 partial responses (34%); an overall response rate of 41%. The median duration of response was 8.0 months. The median survival for all 80 patients was 11.0 months and the actuarial 1-year survival probability 45%. During therapy global QOL improved in 22% of patients and particular functional domains increased in 19-37% of patients. Dyspnea was released in 36% of patients, fatigue in 45%, chest pain in 38%, shoulder pain in 27%, cough in 44%, and hemoptysis in 75%. The mean intensity scores of the last three symptoms decreased significantly with therapy. Our study confirmed relatively high efficacy of the gemcitabine-cisplatin combination in patients with advanced NSCLC. Of particular importance was that treatment with gemcitabine-cisplatin combination in a large proportion of patients was also associated with remarkable symptomatic release and with improvement of QOL. However, the high frequency of myelotoxicity-related gemcitabine omissions on day 15 of the cycle indicates that modification of the schedule should be considered in standard care.
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PMID:A phase II study of gemcitabine plus cisplatin in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: clinical outcomes and quality of life. 1175 Jul 16

In order to facilitate patients with symptomatic locally advanced NSCLC, especially those coming from remote areas we have employed two palliative RT schedules. The first (S1) is the well known from Medical Research Council (MRC) randomized studies 2 x 8.5 Gy one week apart and the second (S2) is a two-day RT schedule: three fractions of 4.25 Gy are given on the first day and two fractions of 4.25 Gy on the second day. The records of 92 patients were reviewed (48 for S1 and 44 for S2). Patients, disease characteristics and results were similar for both groups; rates of symptom disappearance were for S1 and S2, respectively: cough 24 and 20%, hemoptysis 60 and 67%, chest pain 57 and 64% and dyspnoea 55 and 45% The overall condition improved in 39 and 36%, respectively. The median palliation time in days was in S1 and S2, respectively: cough 70 and 66, haemoptysis 133 and 139, chest pain 68 and 62 and dyspnoea 74 and 69 days. The median survival was 25 weeks in both S1 and S2 groups (P=0.89 log-rank test). At 52 weeks (one year), ten (21%) and seven (16%) of the patients were alive in S1 and S2 groups, respectively. At 104 weeks, the corresponding figures were two (4%) and two (4.7%) for S1 and S2. Our results are in accordance to those reported in literature regarding the safety and efficacy of palliative hypofractionated radiotherapy schemes. Their use in selected patients could be cost-effective and convenient for patients especially those coming from remote areas.
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PMID:A short radiotherapy course for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): effective palliation and patients' convenience. 1180 94


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