ABSTRACT
Thirty-nine patients with advanced measurable squamous cell carcinomas were treated with two or more courses of 70 mg cisplatin/m2 on day 1 and 700 mg infused 5-fluorouracil/m2 on days 1-5 every 21 days. The overall response rate was 35.9 (95% confidence limits, 24.8-55.1%). Responses were seen in primary sites in the esophagus of five patients, in the lung of seven, the liver of one and the mediastinal lymph nodes of one. The average response duration was 3.5 (range 1-12) mo for patients who achieved partial response. The average survival time after the first administration was 9.5 mo for patients who responded to the treatment whereas, for those who did not, it was 5.6 mo. The major form of toxicity was myelosuppression and there were six patients with grade 3 toxicity and one with grade 4. The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of combined cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil for advanced squamous cell carcinoma, and the results showed that it had a reasonable effect and might possibly be used as a postoperative chemotherapy because of its mild side effects.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/drug therapy , Esophageal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/mortality , Chemotherapy, Adjuvant , Cisplatin/administration & dosage , Cisplatin/adverse effects , Drug Evaluation , Esophageal Neoplasms/mortality , Female , Fluorouracil/administration & dosage , Fluorouracil/adverse effects , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Remission Induction , Survival RateABSTRACT
We estimated the utilization of calcium in spinach and calcium-oxalate to calcium-deficient rats, and the effect of oxalic acid on absorption of dietary calcium by using calcium-deficient rats. The body weight gain of the calcium-deficient rats for 8 days receiving a calcium-deficient diet supplemented with raw-powdered spinach (R-sp), boiled-powdered spinach (B-sp), or calcium-oxalate (Ca-ox), and a control diet supplemented with oxalic acid (OX-C) were 4.8, 2.8, 4.9, and 5.1 g, respectively. The calcium content in the liver and kidney of the rats receiving R-sp, B-sp, Ca-ox, and OX-C diets significantly increased as compared with the calcium-deficient rats. Significant differences in the liver calcium levels were not observed among the rats receiving various additional diets, though the content in the kidneys of the rats receiving R-sp, B-sp, Ca-ox, and OX-C diets were 28.0, 21.5, 0.11, and 0.59 mg, respectively. An especially large amount of calcium was accumulated in the kidneys of the rats receiving R-sp and B-sp diets. The calcium concentration in the serum of the rats receiving Ca-ox and OX-C diets was higher than the calcium concentration in the serum of the R-sp, B-sp, and calcium-deficient rats. The calcium content in the left tibiae of the rats receiving Ca-ox and OX-C diets was higher than that of the rats receiving R-sp and B-sp diets. The breaking force of the right tibiae of the rats was highest in the OX-C group, and higher in the R-sp and Ca-ox groups than the breaking force of the right tibiae of the rats fed on B-sp diet. The alkaline phosphatase activity in the small intestines of the rats rose in the order of the R-sp, B-sp, and Ca-ox groups, although significant differences of the activity were not observed between the Ca-ox and the OX-C groups. The calcium retention of the rats receiving the calcium-deficient, R-sp, B-sp, Ca-ox, and OX-C diets was -18.5, 35.2, 25.6, 41.6, and 45.8%, respectively. About 35% of the calcium in the spinach was absorbed by the calcium-deficient rats, and oxalic acid depressed the calcium absorption in the rats.