Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025202 (melanoma)
 69,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The role of medical treatment in advanced or metastatic malignant melanoma is still controversial, and there is no standard systemic therapy. Dacarbazine has been the most widely used single drug, despite its response rate range of 10-25%. A number of new drugs, polychemo-therapeutic regimens and combined modalities have been explored. Fotemustine, a new chloronitrosourea, is one of the most promising, and is active against disseminated malignant melanoma, in particular against brain metastases. Cisplatin has modest activity as single agent but positive results have been reported when it is combined with dacarbazine. Modulation of the activity of cisplatin and dacarbazine by tamoxifen has recently been postulated. The results of the few clinical trials in malignant melanoma are interesting but controversial. Interleukin-2 and interferon are active in this disease, but no more so than individual chemotherapeutic drugs. However, despite their high cost, combinations of immuno- and chemotherapeutic agents have been extensively investigated in order to evaluate possible synergisms. The above-mentioned efforts have produced contradictory results that are partly related to the difficulty in establishing whether a positive or negative treatment outcome is due to the chosen therapy or patient selection. For these reasons, patients with advanced malignant melanoma should be treated according to research protocols in specialized centers until an effective approach is developed.
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PMID:Chemotherapy of advanced malignant-melanoma (review). 2160 11

The purpose of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate the safety and activity of intravenous fotemustine in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. We report on a series of 25 consecutive patients diagnosed with metastatic uveal melanoma. Fotemustine was administered intravenously as a first-line treatment to all patients. Thrombocytopenia and leukopenia (any grade) were observed in 60 and 52% of patients, respectively. Only two patients discontinued treatment because of toxicity (G3 thrombocytopenia), whereas all other patients were discontinued for progressive disease. Two partial responses were observed. Nine patients had stable disease (disease control rate=44%). The median survival duration was 13.9 months, and the 1-year survival rate was 60%. Intravenous fotemustine is well tolerated and could improve the outcome of metastatic uveal melanoma patients with or without liver involvement, although a randomized prospective trial is required to confirm these results.
Melanoma Res 2013 Jun
PMID:Treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma with intravenous fotemustine. 2362 66

Malignant gliomas account for approximately 60% of all primary brain tumors in adults. The prognosis for patients with malignant glioma has not changed significantly in recent years. Despite debulking surgery, radiotherapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy, the median survival time is nine to 12 months, and very few, if any, patients are cured from this illness. Fotemustine is an alkylating agent characterized by the grafting of a phosphonoalanine group onto the nitrosourea radical with consequent high lipophilicity and improved diffusion through the cell membrane and the blood-brain barrier. Fotemustine has been registered for use in two indications: disseminated malignant melanoma, including cerebral metastases, and primary brain tumors. Fotemustine is currently used in Europe, particularly in France and Italy, as a salvage therapy for recurrent malignant gliomas. Myelosuppression, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia are the most frequent side effects of treatment with fotemustine. The objective response to this treatment is between 26% and 70%, and the reported median survival time is 10 months. New drug combinations containing fotemustine and angiogenesis inhibitors, such as bevacizumab, are currently under development. In this review, we describe all the combinations of fotemustine currently used in clinical practice for recurrent malignant gliomas.
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PMID:Fotemustine: a third-generation nitrosourea for the treatment of recurrent malignant gliomas. 2421 27

Fotemustine is a third-generation nitrosourea showing efficacy in various types of tumors such as melanoma and glioma. We reviewed the most important studies on fotemustine treatment in glioma patients analyzing its pharmacological profile and its activity and safety. Fotemustine was used as single agent or in association with new targeted drugs such as bevacizumab; fotemustine was used both as first-line chemotherapy before temozolomide era and in refractory-temozolomide patients during temozolomide era. Finally, analyzing and comparing the activity and safety of fotemustine alone or in combination with bevacizumab versus other nitrosoureas such as lomustine, we may suggest that the combination treatment with bevacizumab and fotemustine may be active and tolerable in patients with high grade gliomas.
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PMID:An overview of fotemustine in high-grade gliomas: from single agent to association with bevacizumab. 2480 Feb 48


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