Clinical Characteristics of Young Patients with Lung Cancer / 결핵

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that younger patients with lung cancer have characteristic features that differ from those in older patients. The prognosis for young patients with this disease is controversial. This study aimed to determine the clinicopathological characteristics, the survival rate, and the risk factors associated with the overall survival rate in younger patients with lung cancer. METHODS: The records of 120 young(age≤40) patients with histologically confirmed lug cancer in the Korea Cancer Center Hospital(KCCH) between Jan. 1992 to 1998, 120 older(age>40) patients were randomly selected as the controls. RESULTS: More female patients(45.0% vs. 20.0%, p<0.001) and more adenocarcinoma cases(64.2% vs. 38.3%, p<0.001) were found in the younger group, when compared to the older patients. In NSCLC, advanced disease(stage III B and IV) was more common in the younger patients(90.2%) than in the older patients(62.7%) (p<0.001). The Median survival was 8.6 months in the younger patients and 12.2 months in the older(p=0.003). In a multivariate analysis, only the advanced-stage was an independent negative prognostic factor. CONCLUSION: Lung cancer in the younger age group presents with a more advanced stage resulting in a poor survival rate, which suggests that lung cancer in this population is more aggressive than in older patients.

High Dose Cyclophosphamide, Thiotepa, and Carboplatin followed by Autologous Peripheral Stem Cell Rescue in Patients with Responsive Metastatic or High - Risk Primary Breast Cancer / 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: Positive correlation between dosage of antineoplastic agents and tumor response is well demonstrated in advanced breast cancer. But severe bone marrow depression limit the clinical application of high dose chemotherapy. Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation(PBSCT) after high dose chemotherapy(HDC) was introduced to promote rapid bone marrow recovery. This study was designed to establish the feasibility of combining high dose cyclophosphamide, thiotepa, and carboplatin chemotherapy followed by stem cell rescue in patients with responsive metastatic or high risk primary breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Eligibility criteria included the presence of high risk primary breast cancer(10 or more involved axillary lymph node, n=4), recurrent disease after curative resection(n=6) or stage IV disease at the time of diagnosis(n=1). The responses of recurrent disease to initial chemotherapy were 4 complete responses and 1 partial responses. One recurrent case with solitary pulmonary metastasis underwent metastasectomy and got chemotherapy after operation. Colony stimulating factor was administered to mobilize stem cells from bone marrow to peripheral blood. The stem cell collection was performed 4~10 times(median 4) and the number of collected stem cell was 1.95~7.34x10(8)kg(median 4.87x10(8)/kg). High dose chemotherapy with CTCb (cyclophosphamide 1,500 mg/m2/day, thiotepa 125 mg/m2/day, carboplatin 200 mg/m2/ day) was performed from day -7 to day -4 and peripheral stem cell infusion was performed on day 0 as planned. RESULT: Eleven patients were enrolled in this study. Their median age was 39 years old. The median time for bone marrow recovery was 11 days for neutrophil(>500/mm2) and 28 days for platelet(>50,000/mm2). Packed red blood cell and platelet transfusion were performed in 11 patients. The group whose infused mononuclear cell count was less than 4.0 x 10(8)/kg(n=9) needed longer time for bone marrow recovery than those(n=2) who had more than 4.0 x 10(8)/kg( 20 vs 13 day, p < 0.05 ). For non-hematologic toxicity, none have experienced toxicity more than grade III. There were 2 recurrences of 4 cases with high risk breast cancer at the 22 th, and 25 th month but they are still alive at the 28 th, and 29 th month each. The other 2 cases are alive without recurrences at the 18 th, and 20 th months each. In the recurrent disease group, one case who showed partial response to initial chemotherapy recurred at the 4 th month and died at the 13 th month after PBSCT. The other 5 cases are alive without recurrence at the 1st, 3 rd, 3 rd, 5 th, and 31 th month each. One case with stage IV disease(bone metastasis) is alive without evidence of progression at the 3 rd month. CONCLUSION: High dose chemotherapy with PBSCT can be performed safely. Long term survival of patients with advanced breast cancer would be possible by PBSCT after HDC. Further clinical trials based on larger patient population is required to evaluate clinical efficacy of PBSCT after HDC in high risk and recurrent breast cancer.

High-Dose Chemotherapy of Cyclophosphamide, Thiotepa, and Carboplatin (CTCb) with Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation for High-Risk Primary Breast Cancer and Metastatic Breast Cancer / 대한내과학회지

OBJECTIVES: Recently high dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) has been investigated with the hope of maximizing tumor response and increasing survival. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect, feasibility, and toxicity of high-dose cyclophosphamide, thiotepa, and carboplatin (CTCb) with APBSCT in patients with metastatic or high risk primary breast cancer. METHODS: Four cases of high-risk primary breast cancer (with more than 10 involved axillary nodes) and three cases of metastatic disease in complete or partial response were enrolled. Peripheral blood stem cells were mobilized by G-CSF plus chemotherapy, and median number of collected mononuclear cells was 5.44 X 108/kg(range, 1.95-7.08 X 108/kg). High-dose chemotherapy of cyclophosphamide (1,500mg/m2/day), thiotepa (125mg/m2/day) and carboplatin (200mg/m2/day) was administered for 4 days and peripheral blood stem cells were reinfused to the patients 72 hours after the completion of chemotherapy. RESULTS: The median days of recovery for neutrophil (over 500/mm3) and for platelet (over 50,000/mm3) were 10 (range, 8 to 33) and 30 (range, 10 to 40). One patient suffered from seizure attack and grade 3 hepatotoxicity during high dose chemotherapy, There were no treatment-related death. Four patients with high-risk primary breast cancer remained disease-free at 2, 8, 12 and 19 months post-transplant. In one patient with bone metastasis, complete response was induced following APBSCT. All three patients with metastatic disease remained progression-free at 8, 18 and 19 months post-transplant. CONCLUSION: High-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation was feasible and would be a potentially effective treatment modality in high risk and metastatic breast cancer.