ABSTRACT
Cancer is a public health problem in Argentina, and the role of the country's physicians in the fight against this disease is very important. Whether they are general physicians or specialists, including clinical oncologists, they must have basic knowledge and permanent updating in oncology. Unfortunately, the teaching of oncology is deficient in this country, the deficiencies being already noticeable at the undergraduate level where the teaching is incomplete and dispersed. In order to ascertain the level of oncologic information which medical students about to graduate had acquired, 15-hour courses were organized in 1983 to 1984 for students of the Universities of Buenos Aires, La Plata, and Del Salvador. The participants had to fill in a questionnaire of 50 questions of increasing complexity before and after the course. The comparison of both inquiries clearly showed the usefulness of the course, particularly regarding cancer control, early diagnosis, treatment, and curability. The overall error decreased by 50% after the course. However, some erroneous ideas still existed and it became evident that certain of the subjects must be studied in greater depth.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical, Undergraduate/standards , Medical Oncology/education , Argentina , Curriculum , Educational Measurement , Humans , Program Evaluation , Surveys and QuestionnairesSubject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/drug therapy , Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use , Stomach Neoplasms/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects , Clinical Trials as Topic , Doxorubicin/administration & dosage , Drug Administration Schedule , Drug Evaluation , Female , Fluorouracil/administration & dosage , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mitomycin , Mitomycins/administration & dosage , Triazines/administration & dosageABSTRACT
A combination of 5-FU (600 mg/m2 on Days 1 and 8), doxorubicin (40 mg/m2 on Day 1), and cisplatin (75 mg/m2 on Day 1) has been used for treatment of 31 patients with advanced measurable adenocarcinoma of the lung and 35 with gastric cancer. The regimen was given every 4 weeks until disease progression to patients who had not received prior chemotherapy. One complete response occurred in the lung cancer group. Ten of the gastric cancer patients (29%) had partial responses. The median duration of response was 5.5 months and the median survival in responding patients was 10.8 months. Toxicity of the regimen was moderate. We conclude that this combination offers no particular advantages over previously described treatments for these diseases.
