Comparison of efficacy and safety of three different chemotherapy regimens delivered with concomitant radiotherapy in inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Concomitant administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is currently recognized as the standard of treatment in locally advanced inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study aimed to compare the efficacy and toxicities of three different chemotherapy regimens delivered concurrently with radiotherapy. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients who received the PE (cisplatin, 50 mg/m(2), on days 1, 8, 29, and 36 plus etoposide, 50 mg/m(2), on days 1 to 5 and 29 to 33), PD (docetaxel, 20 mg/m(2), on day 1 plus cisplatin, 20 mg/m(2), on day 1, every week), and PC (carboplatin, AUC 2 plus paclitaxel, 45 mg/m(2), on day 1, every week) regimens concurrently with radiotherapy. A total of 227 patients were evaluated in the study. Median follow-up time was 13 months (2-101). There were 27 females (11.9 %) and 200 males (88.1 %) with a median age of 61 (38-82) years. The PD group had higher rates of esophagitis, mucositis, and anemia (p < 0.05). The PC group had higher rates of neuropathy (p = 0.000). The progression-free survival (PFS) time was 10 months for patients in the PC group, 15 months for patients in the PD group, and 21 months for the PE group (p = 0.010). Patients in the PC group had a median overall survival time of 23 months, those in the PD group 27 months, and those in the PE group 36 months (p = 0.098). Combination of cisplatin-etoposide with radiotherapy led to a more favorable outcome compared with the other two regimens. It shows generally manageable toxicity profile and compliance to treatment is noticeable.

Ascorbic-acid Treatment for Progressive Bone Metastases After Radiotherapy: A Pilot Study.

Context • Researchers have reported improved survival rates for patients with cancer when 10-75 g of vitamin C (ascorbic acid, or AA) is administered intravenously. AA exhibits a cytotoxic effect upon entering a cancer cell. Objective • The current study examined the benefits of intravenous administration of AA in treatment of bone metastases. Design • The study was a pilot study. Setting • The study was performed at Bezmialem Vakif University Medical Facility (BVUMF) in the Department of Radiation Oncology, from 2010-2012. Participants • Participants were 11 cancer patients with bone metastases who were unresponsive to standard cancer treatments and who experienced the following issues after receiving a total of 3000 cGy of radiotherapy: (1) intensifying pain, (2) an increase in metastatic sites, and/or (3) a deterioration in general health. Intervention • The 11 patients received 2.5 g of AA in a physiological saline solution, within 1 h period with 3-10 applications following at 1-wk intervals. Outcome Measures • The ECOG Performance Scale and Visual Analog Scale were used to assess performance and pain. Results • Among the participants administered AA, the mean reduction in pain was 55%, and the median survival time was 10 mo. Participants experienced a 40% grade-I gastrointestinal toxicity and a 30% urinary toxicity. Conclusions • Given the study's results, the current research team found considerable encouragement in the use of AA after radiotherapy for treatment of patients with bone metastases. Toxicity was in the acceptable range for AA treatment.

Outcome of daily cisplatin with thoracic chemoradiotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients with comorbid disorders: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the most common cancer in males worldwide. The principal mode of treatment in the early stage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is surgery. However, five-year survival is only about 15% for all stages. The aim is to investigate the effect of daily low dose cisplatin concurrently with radiation therapy in advanced NSCLC patients with poor performance status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients diagnosed as inoperable Stage IIIB NSCLC with comorbid disease were assessed retrospectively in Bezmialem Vakif University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, between 2011 to 2013. ECOG performance status was between 3 and 4. Cisplatin was administered at 6 mg/m2 daily, for 5 days a week concurrently with radiotherapy using 160-200 cGy daily fractions, 54 Gy being the lowest and 63 Gy being the highest dose. RESULTS: Complete response at the primary tumour site was obtained in 20% patients. Grade I esophagitis was seen 70 percent of patients, and the grade II haematological toxicity rate was 20%. Median survival time was 7 months. CONCLUSIONS: Median survival time was reasonable, despite the patients ECOG performance status of 3-4, which is similar to groups even without comorbid disorders in comparison to other published papers in the literature. Acceptable toxicity, high response rates and quality of life of patients are the other favourable features.

Is there any role of thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor in the development of a hypercoagulable state in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate plasma levels of thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) and TAFI's relationship with coagulation markers (prothrombin fragment 1 + 2) in gastric cancer patients. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with gastric adenocarcinoma and 29 healthy control subjects were prospectively enrolled in the study. Patients who had a history of secondary malignancy, thrombosis related disease, oral contraceptive use, diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure or similar chronic metabolic disease were excluded from the study. A fasting blood sample was drawn from patients to determine the plasma levels of TAFI and Prothrombin Fragment 1 + 2 (F 1 + 2). In addition, data on patient age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and stage of disease were recorded. The same parameters, except stage of disease, were also recorded for the control group. Subsequently, we assessed the difference in the levels of TAFI and F 1 + 2 between the patient and control groups. Moreover, we investigated the relation of TAFI and F 1 + 2 levels with age, sex, BMI and stage of disease in the gastric cancer group. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences in any demographic variables (age, gender and BMI) between the groups (Table 1). The mean plasma TAFI levels of the gastric cancer group (69.4 ± 33.1) and control group (73.3 ± 27.5) were statistically similar (P = 0.62). The mean plasma F 1 + 2 level in the gastric cancer group was significantly higher than for those in the control group (549.7 ± 325.3 vs 151.9 ± 67.1, respectively; P < 0.001). In the gastric cancer group, none of the demographic variables (age, gender and BMI) were correlated with either TAFI or F 1 + 2 levels. Also, no significant associations were found between the stage of the cancer and either TAFI or F 1 + 2 levels. CONCLUSION: In our study, TAFI levels of gastric cancer patients were similar to healthy subjects. The results of our study suggest that TAFI does not play a role in pathogenesis of the hypercoagulable state in gastric cancer patients.

Effects of prognostic factors and treatment on survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

In this study, 304 stage III-B and IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases diagnosed and followed up in our hospital between January 2000 and December 2002 are retrospectively analysed. The effects of demographic, clinical, laboratory findings and different therapeutic modalities on survival were investigated. Of the cases, 31 (10.2%) were women, 273 (89.8%) were men and mean age was 60.59 +/- 10.73. Analysis by the Kaplan-Meier method revealed that median survival was 6.0 +/- 0.5 (95% CI: 5.1-6.9) months and 12 and 24-month survival rates were 25.27 +/- 2.99% and 11.48 +/- 2.77% respectively. By univariate analysis of 33 parameters, 12 of them were found to be effective on survival and this relationship was statistically significant (p< 0.05). These parameters indicating poor prognosis were age > 70, ECOG performance score > 1, dyspnea, peripheral lymphadenomegaly (LAM), mediastinal invasion, pleural effusion, distant metastasis, elevated serum LDH, CA 19.9, CA-125 values, not receiving curative radiotherapy (RT) (> 50 Gy) or chemotherapy (CT). A multivariate analysis by Cox regression method revealed that advanced age, mediastinal invasion and metastatic disease were not independent prognostic factors on survival whereas ECOG performance score > 1 (p= 0.000), absence of CT (p= 0.000) and curative RT (p= 0.018), dyspnea (p= 0.035), peripheral LAM (p= 0.022) and pleural effusion (p= 0.043) were independent prognostic factors on survival.