Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019829 (Hodgkin's disease)
 30,247 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Thirty-five patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma of intermediate or high-grade histology were treated with cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vincristine, prednisone, methotrexate plus leucovorin and bleomycin (CEOP-MB). The complete response rate was 66%. The relapse rate of these complete responders was 39%. After a median follow-up of 3 years the median duration of complete response was 23 months and the median survival of the complete responders 52 months. The median survival of the entire group was 35.5 months. The toxicity was acceptable with no cases of congestive heart failure and no toxic deaths. Epirubicin appears to have a better therapeutic index than doxorubicin in aggressive treatment protocols in advanced non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
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PMID:Phase II study of cyclophosphamide (C), epirubicin (E), oncovin (O), prednisone (P), methotrexate (M) + leucovorin and bleomycin (B) (CEOP-MB) in intermediate and high grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas. 172 24

Epirubicin (4'-epidoxorubicin) is an antineoplastic agent derived from doxorubicin. The compounds differ in the configuration of the hydroxyl group at the 4' position. Epirubicin, like doxorubicin, exerts its antitumor effects by interference with the synthesis and function of DNA and is most active during the S phase of the cell cycle. Epirubicin is administered by intravenous (IV) injection. It is metabolized by the liver and primarily eliminated in the bile. About 10% of the drug is eliminated in the urine. Dosage adjustments are recommended for patients with liver metastases or elevated liver function tests. The elimination half-life of epirubicin is 30 to 40 hours. Clinical studies indicate activity in breast cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, ovarian cancer, soft-tissue sarcomas, and pancreatic cancer. There is also evidence of activity against gastric cancer, small-cell lung cancer, and acute leukemia. Epirubicin has limited activity as a single agent against head and neck tumors or non-small-cell lung cancer, but may be beneficial in combination with other agents. The overall activity of epirubicin appears to be comparable with that of doxorubicin. However, more studies are needed to define its role in combination chemotherapeutic regimens. The acute dose-limiting toxicity of epirubicin is myelosuppression. Nausea, vomiting, and alopecia are also common. Epirubicin may cause transient cardiac arrhythmias and alterations of the electrocardiogram. Chronic therapy is limited, but available data indicate that epirubicin can be administered in higher cumulative doses than doxorubicin before cardiotoxicity limits further therapy.
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PMID:Epirubicin: a review of the pharmacology, clinical activity, and adverse effects of an adriamycin analogue. 300 21

We studied the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of epirubicin (4'-epidoxorubicin) in ten patients suffering from Hodgkin's disease and receiving three successive injections of epirubicin at 15-day intervals in a combined chemotherapy regimen. Doses were either constant (35 mg/m2) or escalated from 25 to 35 and 50 mg/m2. Epirubicin metabolism was characterized by the presence of high levels of epirubicin glucuronide in plasma and urine. The area under the time-concentration plasma curve of epirubicin glucuronide reached almost that of unchanged epirubicin (mean ratio = 0.7-0.85), whereas the cumulative urinary excretion of epirubicin glucuronide was one-half of that of epirubicin (mean ratio = 0.45-0.51). Repeating or escalating the doses did not change the levels of the glucuronide significantly. Only a trend towards higher relative levels of glucuronide could be noticed at the lowest dose. The pharmacokinetic parameters of epirubicin were characterized by a high total plasma clearance (mean value: 70-85 1/hr) and a mean elimination half-life of 25-35 hr. Repeating or escalating the doses was followed by a slight increase of the total plasma clearance in most patients, without changes of the elimination half-life. The cumulative urinary excretion was 11-12% of the dose administered and did not vary significantly as a function of time or dose.
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PMID:Pharmacokinetics and metabolism of epirubicin during repetitive courses of administration in Hodgkin's patients. 386 77

Epirubicin (Epi-DX), a new analog of doxorubicin, was administered I.V. once q 3 weeks at the dose of 90 mg/m2 to 20 evaluable patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). Eighty-two percent of patients with favorable histology and 67% with unfavorable histology achieved complete or partial remissions, with an overall response rate of 75%. Gastrointestinal and hematologic toxicity was generally mild to moderate. Reversible ST-T changes were observed only in two patients. Epi-DX has high activity in patients with NHL, and further studies in combination with other agents are recommended.
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PMID:Epirubicin in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. 386 31

This article presents a young patient affected with non-Hodgkin lymphoma who developed acute myocardial infarction 7 days after treatment with epirubicin (90 mg/m2, day 1), cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2, day 1), vincristine (2 mg, day 1), prednisolone (100 mg, days 1-5), and ondansetron (3 x 4 mg/day, days 1-2). Six months after the myocardial infarction the patient had no further cardiac complications after treatment with cylcophosphamide, vincristine, and ondansetron chemotherapy regimen. Epirubicin was considered to play an important role in the production of infarction, and the probable mechanisms of epirubicin-induced myocardial infarction are discussed.
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PMID:Acute myocardial infarction in man treated with epirubicin for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 757 66

An intensive chemotherapy regimen (EVDAC), including high-dose epirubicin, vincristine, and dexamethasone followed by cyclophosphamide and high-dose cytarabine, was administered to 54 untreated adults with intermediate or high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). The median age was 59, 61% were Ann Arbor Stage IV, 57% had "B" symptoms, 50% had serum lactate dehydrogenase greater than 250 U/L, and 48% had masses greater than 7 cm (33% > 10 cm) in diameter. Seventy-six percent of patients attained complete or probable complete remissions. The Kaplan-Meier actuarial failure-free survival at 7 years is 50%, and 59% (32 of 54) of all patients started on therapy remain alive and in first remission at a median of 62+ (range, 49+ to 76+) months from completion of therapy. Nearly all patients developed severe neutropenia. Febrile episodes requiring hospitalization during neutropenia occurred after 56% of courses of epirubicin, vincristine, and dexamethasone and after 9% of courses of cyclophosphamide and cytarabine; 80% of patients were hospitalized at least once. Platelet count nadirs of less than 20,000/microL occurred after only 1 of 146 evaluable courses of epirubicin and after none of the cyclophosphamide/cytarabine courses. Although 8 patients had decreases of at least 0.12 in their left ventricular ejection fractions (5 to below normal levels), none have developed clinically evident congestive heart failure. Clinically significant mucositis occurred after only 8% of courses of high-dose epirubicin. Three deaths from infections and one from hyperkalemia with cardiac arrest occurred during therapy. These results confirm that high remission and sustained, failure-free survival rates can be achieved in patients with aggressive NHL, using high-dose anthracycline-containing chemotherapy regimens. Epirubicin appears to have an advantage over doxorubicin at high doses because of decreased toxicity at a therapeutically equivalent dose. These phase II study results need to be validated in a randomized phase III trial, and growth factors should be used to attempt to reduce the neutropenia-associated complications.
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PMID:Chemotherapy of intermediate- and high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with an intensive epirubicin-containing regimen. 826 Jun 95

Modern combination chemotherapy cures about one third of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) [3]. Attempts to increase this proportion by more intensive chemotherapeutic regimens have failed so far in randomized trials [4, 5]. Dose intensity has been reported to be important for cure [8]--a factor which can be enhanced by hematopoietic growth factors--but addition of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) to intensive chemotherapy did not improve response on survival in a controlled study published recently [10]. Therefore, we tried to design a regimen which might be more appropriate for combination with growth factors, using pulse chemotherapy rather than continuous treatment and employing drugs of low stem-cell toxicity. Ifosfamide (Ifo) appeared to be ideal because it is effective even in some resistant cases [1] and might act synergistically with anthracyclines by reducing intracellular glutathione levels [9]. Epirubicin (Epi) was favored because of its low hemato- and cardiotoxicity [2]. These drugs, together with etoposide (VP-16) had been found to be very effective in relapsed cases [7]. Methotrexate (Mtx) was added because it penetrates the spinal fluid. Moreover, we chose granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) as an adjunct cytokine because this not only enhances neutrophil regeneration [6] but might also have antitumor effects, as suggested by an uncontrolled study in sarcomas [11]. This report summarizes our experiences regarding feasibility, toxicity, and responses with this new regimen obtained in a pilot study.
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PMID:IEVM chemotherapy with rhGM-CSF support for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: a pilot study. 847 59

Mitoxantrone and Epirubicin are active agents in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). These drugs have reduced cardiotoxicity and therefore are indicated in treatment of elderly patients. Cyclophosphamide, mitoxantrone, vincristine and methylprednisone (CNOP) and cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vincristine and methylprednisone (CEOP) are combination chemotherapy and contain Mitoxantrone and Epirubicin that have been shown to be effective in treatment of NHL of intermediate and highgrade of malignancy in the elderly. Since Mitoxantrone and Epirubicin are partially non-cross resistant their combined use may diminish emergence of resistant neoplastic clones and may be associated with enhanced anti-neoplastic activity. In this study, a polychemotherapy schedule alternating 3 cycles of CEOP and 3 cycles of CNOP, was used in a single center between December 1988 and April 1995 to treat 41 previously untreated patients, over 60 years of age affected by intermediate or high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma according to the Working Formulation. In treated patients, 57.5% achieved complete response, 35% partial response and 7.5% were non-responders. Overall survival was 52.4 % at 4 years, Disease free survival (DFS) for complete responders was 48.9%. Only one case of severe extrahematological toxicity (grade 3-4 WHO) was observed. Severe mucositis (grade 3-4 WHO) was absent, and delayed administration of chemotherapy was required in only 7/230 cycles. No treatment related deaths were registered. This regimen achieved results comparable to that of other anthracycline or mitoxantrone based chemotherapy, but determined lower toxicity. Alternating CEOP and CNOP may improve overall toxicity.
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PMID:Alternation of epirubicin and mitoxantrone in CHOP-like regimens retains efficacy and reduces overall toxicity in elderly patients with high and intermediate grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas. 1261 18