[Use of Venofer in management of anemia in cancer patients].

Therapy of anemia raises hemoglobin (Hb) level which in turn improves quality of life. Venofer was tested in 20 anemic (grade 1) patients with various malignancies. The drug was administered in 3 courses, i/v, 200 mg at a 4-5 week interval during chemotherapy. Hb levels rose or remained unchanged in 75%; they fell mostly in cases of tumor progression. There was no correlation between Hb concentration and chemotherapy regimen--with or without platinum. Venofer treatment was followed by improvement in quality of life or by stabilization only in 73.3%. Quality of life improved by 9,3% (FACT-An) after an 1g/dl increase in Hb level. Venofer treatment prevented further anemia.

[Comparative clinical appraisal of the effectiveness and tolerability of paclitaxel-LANCE and taxol in combination chemotherapy for recurrences and platinum-refractory ovarian carcinoma]. / Sravnitel'naia klinicheskaia otsenka éffektivnosti i perenosimosti paklitaksela-léns i taksola pri kombinirovannoi khimioterapii retsidivov i platinorezistentnykh form raka iaichnikov.

A clinical appraisal of efficacy and tolerability of taxol (T) and a generic drug--paclitaxel--LANCE (P)--was carried out in two groups of patients with recurrences (9) or platinum-refractory ovarian carcinoma (17). In group I, patients aged 19-71 (mean age--47 yrs) had received 6-7 courses, while, in group II, patients aged 44-72 (mean age--52 yrs) who suffered tumor progression--15.0 courses of various chemotherapeutic regimens. Following standard premedication, T and P were injected 135 mg/sq., intravenously, dropwise, during 3 hrs, as a rule, either concurrently with platinum drugs or with hemzar. In the final analysis, there was no clinically significant difference in overall response--44-30% and 44-48%, respectively, nor any significant difference in side-effect incidence was reported.

[Novel pharmacologic form of ondansetron (Zofran)--lingual tablets in the prevention of cytostatic chemotherapy-induced loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting]. / Novaia lekarstvennaia forma ondansetrona (zofrana)--lingval'nye tabletki v preduprezhdenii vroty, toshnoty i narushenii appetita, indutsiruemykh tsitostatikami.

Ondanserton (zofran), 16-32 mg/24 hr, lingual tablets, 2 days, was administered in 40 patients with advanced tumors who received combination chemotherapy (ABVD) (9 patients with Hodgkin's disease), CHOP (16--non-Hodgkin's lymphoma), gemzar + cisplatin (6--ovarian and 5--breast cancer), CAF, AC and taxol + carboplatin) (4). Distinct prophylactic antiemetic effect, delayed effect (94%) included, was reported in the CHOP group: full control--64% and partial control in gemzar + cisplatin treatment (27%). Loss of appetite was prevented in most patients receiving CHOP and gemzar + cisplatin. Untoward side-effects of ondansetron were not registered.

[Experience with xeloda (capecitabine) as a component of chemotherapy for relapsing cisplatin-resistant ovarian tumors]. / Opyt primeneniia kselody (kapetsitabina) v khimioterapii retsidivov i platinorezistentnykh form raka iaichnikov.

The effectiveness and tolerability of xeloda (capecitabine), a tumor-reactivated oral fluoropyrimidine, alone were investigated in 19 patients, aged 39-79, with relapsing and cisplatin-resistant ovarian tumors. Unfavorable prognosis of chemotherapy was in 11 cases (57.8%): cisplatin-resistant tumors (7) and early relapse--before month 6 (4). Xeloda was administered orally, 1,250 mg/m2, twice a day, for two weeks at an interval of one week. A total of 68 cycles (an average of 3.6 cycles) were evaluated. Complete response was registered in 1, partial--4, and stabilization--4 cases. Total response was in 26.3%, clinically significant effect--47.3% (9 out of 19). Toxic side-effects generally persisted with in stage I-II (palm-and-sole syndrome, leukopenia, neutropenia, sickness, vomiting, diarrhea) without interfering with the treatment.

[Combination chemotherapy with Hemzar (gemcitabine) and cisplatin for relapsing and cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer]. / Kombinirovannaia khimioterapiia gemzarom (gemtsitabinom) i preparatami platiny pri retsidivakh i platinorezistentnykh formakh raka iaichnikov.

The paper is concerned with the data on treatment of 33 patients with advanced ovarian cancer, aged 34-72 (average age of 52.5). Having received numerous regimens of combination chemotherapy, mainly, with cisplatin-containing drugs, sixty-one percent had visceral metastases. Early-onset relapse was in 18.2%, late-onset--12.1% and primary refractory to cisplatin chemotherapy--30%. Hemzar (hemcytabin) + cisplatin + carboplatin treatment was given in 15- or 8-day courses (hemzar--1,000 mg/m2, day 1, 8 and 15 or day 1 and 8; cisplatin m2 or carboplatin AVC5--60 mg/m2, day 1 or 15, day 1 or 8, respectively). A total of 102 cycles of therapy were given and evaluated. Complete response was reported in 2 (6.0%), partial--5 (15.2%), and stabilization--13 (39.4%); significant clinical effect--60.6%. Such side-effects as leukemia stage I-II--63.6%; stage III-IV--3%, neutropenia stage I-II--39.4; stage III-IV--24.2%, thrombocytopenia stage I-II--6%, and asthenia stage I-II--12.1%, stage III-IV--3 patients, did not interfere with treatment. Combination chemotherapy with hemzar + cisplatin + carboplatin was effective and sufficiently tolerable. It is indicated in management of relapse and primary resistance to cisplatin drugs administered for ovarian cancer whenever all other remedies have failed.