Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0034065 (pulmonary embolism)
 14,979 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We treated 41 patients with transitional cell carcinoma with methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin chemotherapy. Median patient age was 56 years. Of the patients 33 had either distant metastases or locoregional disease that could not be cured by an operation or radiation. Of these patients 30 had measurable disease and 12 responded (4 complete and 8 partial responses, response rate 40 per cent, 95 per cent confidence limits 23 to 59 per cent). Only 2 of these patients remain with an unmaintained complete response at 34 and 52 months. Of 5 patients 3 responded who were treated with neoadjuvant methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin for locally advanced bladder cancer before radiation or cystectomy, and only 1 of these patients is free of disease. The remaining 3 patients were treated postoperatively because they were at high risk for recurrence and all are well. Toxicity of the regimen was severe: 41 per cent of the patients experienced neutropenic sepsis and 54 per cent required hospitalization for management of toxic complications. Three patients experienced pulmonary embolism and 1 had deep vein thrombosis. There was 1 drug-related death of sepsis. Although a patient occasionally may have long-term benefit from this chemotherapy our results suggest caution in the widespread application of this protocol.
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PMID:M-VAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin) chemotherapy for transitional cell carcinoma: the Princess Margaret Hospital experience. 274 45

Treatment options for patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) showed unsatisfactory outcomes. Docetaxel-based combinations could offer more promising and tolerated results. A phase II trial was conducted with the combination of zoledronic acid, docetaxel and estramustine. Eligibility consisted of metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma with objective progression or rising prostate specific antigen levels (PSA) despite androgen deprivation therapy. Zoledronic acid was given at a dose of 4 mg on day 1, docetaxel (25 mg/m2) on days 1, 8 and 15, and estramustine orally at 140 mg two times daily on days 1 to 21 of a 28-day cycle. Twenty-seven patients were enrolled between October 2002 and November 2004. Median age was 68 years (53-83 years). A total of 124 cycles were administered with a median of 4.6 cycles per patient (1-8 cycles). The major toxicities were grades 1 to 3 anemia (55%), fatigue (15%), alopecia (11%) and hypocalcemia (11%). Two patients presented with deep venous thrombosis and died from pulmonary embolism. Another third patient died from Stevens-Johnson syndrome and grade 4 hepatic toxicity. Out of the 25 patients assessed for efficacy, 13 (52%) had a biologic response (>50% PSA decline). Three (21%) patients among the 14 with measurable disease had objective response: 1 complete response (CR) and 2 partial responses (PR). Response duration was 2 months for PR and 4 months for CR. A total of 12 patients (48%) experienced clinical benefit with pain reduction. This combination seemed effective; however toxic deaths especially from venous thrombosis counterbalanced the advantage of this regimen.
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PMID:Weekly docetaxel, zoledronic acid and estramustine in hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). 1784 4