Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027947 (neutropenia)
 17,527 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Head and neck cancer locally recurrent after previous irradiation and surgery presents a difficult management problem. Conventional treatment alternatives include chemotherapy, reirradiation with interstitial implant, and hyperthermia. Reirradiation with external beam is generally not considered because of previous high radiation dose and limited tissue tolerance. In this study, 21 patients with recurrent and previously irradiated head and neck cancer were treated in a Phase I-II fashion. Patients received 5 days of 5-fluorouracil, 300 mg/m2/day IV bolus, Hydroxyurea 1.5 or 2 g/day by mouth and external beam radiation therapy every 2 weeks for up to four courses. Of 20 evaluable patients, 9 have attained a complete response (CR) and 6 a partial response (PR). Fifteen patients completed all planned therapy, eight on time, seven patients with delays. With a median follow-up of 7 months, 13 patients are alive, 7 disease-free (3 after salvage surgery) and 6 with recurrence. Eight patients have died. The 1-year survival is 56%. Treatment toxicity was mainly neutropenia. No major early or late radiation related side effects have been observed at a median follow-up of 7 months. Neither previous radiation dose, time since first radiation, prior chemotherapy, or site of recurrence was predictive of response or treatment tolerance. Patients with a performance status of at least 80 had a significant higher CR rate, with 7/10 patients in this group, as compared to 2/10 patients in patients with a performance status less than 80, achieving a CR. Reirradiation with 5-fluorouracil and hydroxyurea is a well tolerated outpatient treatment program for patients with recurrent and previous irradiated head and neck cancer that produces a high response rate and can provide significant palliation of symptoms.
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PMID:Treatment of recurrent head and neck cancer with 5-fluorouracil, hydroxyurea, and reirradiation. 155 52

The efficacy and safety of docetaxel in clinical trials in patients with a variety of malignancies are reviewed. The overall response rate for docetaxel as a first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer is 59%. Docetaxel in combination with doxorubicin or vinorelbine has proved particularly effective in the first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Docetaxel is also one of the most active single agents in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), producing an overall response rate of 27% when used as a first-line agent. Docetaxel plus cisplatin was more effective against NSCLC than either drug used alone, yielding response rates of 33-48%. Docetaxel has shown activity against a variety of other tumors, including ovarian cancer (response rate in second-line therapy, 34%), head-and-neck cancer (response rate in first-line therapy, 35%), and soft-tissue sarcoma (response rate in first-line therapy, 32%). The main toxic effect is grade 3-4 neutropenia, which occurs in 57% of treatment cycles but is brief and manageable. The dosage of docetaxel should be reduced from 100 mg/m2 to 75 mg/m2 if patients have neutropenia lasting more than one week, febrile neutropenia, or impaired liver function. Other adverse effects include severe fluid retention and asthenia. Some adverse effects can be avoided by administering corticosteroid premedication. Docetaxel has shown efficacy against a wide range of cancers in clinical trials and has a manageable adverse-effect profile.
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PMID:Efficacy and safety of docetaxel in clinical trials. 943 29

We describe a retrospective series of patients with advanced head-and-neck cancer who were treated with induction chemotherapy followed by radical chemo-radiation. Patients treated with two cycles of induction chemotherapy followed by definitive chemo-radiation for squamous cell carcinoma of the head-and-neck region, from 2001 - 2006 at the Royal Marsden Hospital, formed the basis of this study. Cisplatin (75 mg m(-2)) on day 1 and 5-FU (1000 mg m(-2)) day 1 - 4 was the standard regimen used for induction treatment. Cisplatin (100 mg m(-2)) on day 1 and day 29 was used for concomitant treatment. The radiation was delivered using conformal technique. Tissues containing macroscopic and microscopic disease were treated to doses of 65 Gray (Gy) in 30 fractions and 50 Gy in 25 fractions, respectively. Data on patterns of relapse and acute toxicity (NCICTCv.3.0) were collected. A total of 129 patients were included, median age was 58 (range: 27 - 78). The site of tumour was: oropharynx 70 (54%), larynx 30 (23%), hypopharynx 24 (19%) and other 5 (4%). The median follow-up was 19 months (range: 4 - 58). Local control, disease-specific survival and overall survival at 2 years were 71%, 68% and 63%, respectively. The distant recurrence rate at 2 years was 9%. Ten patients required dose reduction during induction chemotherapy due to toxicity. The dose of 5-FU was reduced in six patients and that of cisplatin in four patients. The incidence of grade 3/4 toxicity was: neutropenia 5%, thrombocytopenia 1%, nausea and vomiting 3%. One cycle of concurrent cisplatin was omitted in 23 patients due to toxicity. Full-dose radiotherapy was administered to 98% of patients. The incidence of grade 3/4 toxicity was: skin 20%, dysphagia 65%, mucositis 60%, neutropenia 3%, anaemia 1%, nausea and vomiting 4%, nephrotoxicity 1%. Induction chemotherapy followed by radical chemo-radiation is a safe and tolerable regimen in the treatment of advanced head-and-neck cancer. Distant recurrence rates are lower with equivalent local control and survival compared to chemo-radiation alone (historical controls).
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PMID:Sequential induction chemotherapy followed by radical chemo-radiation in the treatment of locoregionally advanced head-and-neck cancer. 1856 Apr 2