Subcutaneous heparin treatment increases survival in small cell lung cancer. "Petites Cellules" Group.

BACKGROUND: A positive influence of anticoagulant treatment in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been suggested by experimental and clinical data. METHODS: In a multicenter clinical trial, 277 patients with SCLC were randomized either to receive or not to receive subcutaneous heparin injections for 5 weeks at effective doses, which were monitored by blood coagulation tests. All patients received one of the two chemotherapy regimens studied in this trial, for eight courses in the case of patients with complete or partial response, and subsequently were randomized to receive delayed thoracic radiotherapy after these eight courses. RESULTS: In comparison to the 139 patients who did not receive heparin, the 138 patients who received anticoagulant treatment obtained better complete response rates (37% vs. 23%, P = 0.004), better median survival (317 days vs. 261 days, P = 0.01), and better survival rates at 1, 2, and 3 years (40% vs. 30%, 11% vs. 9% and 9% vs. 6%, respectively). At subgroups analysis, the results on survival were obtained for limited forms (P = 0.03) but not for extensive diseases (P = 0.31). No important bleeding or thrombocytopenia was related to heparin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the value of anticoagulant treatment in SCLC, already suspected for warfarin and now proven for heparin, but the modes of administration and the biologic explanations for this activity still warrant further investigation.

Scimitar sign with normal pulmonary venous drainage and anomalous inferior vena cava.

A case of the scimitar sign due to an anomaly of the right sided pulmonary vein with normal drainage into the left atrium was associated with an azygos continuation of the inferior vena cava. Digital subtraction angiography allows the identification of these rare congenital vascular malformations.

[Mediastinal carcinomas in young men without primary tumors. A chemosensitive entity?]. / Carcinomes médiastinaux chez l'homme jeune sans tumeur primitive. Une entité chimiosensible?

Three patients out of 99 benefited with a complete remission following chemotherapy with Cisplatinum and Vindesine. The initial characteristics of these patients were studied, they recall a characteristic type of tumour already described and for which a hypothesis of a germ origin has been raised. In spite of their rarity the existence of complete remissions should encourage the use of chemotherapy in such patients who have a "broncho-pulmonary" cancer with a tropism for the mediastinum and without a specified primary tumour.