[Adjuvant treatment of patients with neoplastic lesions using the combination of a vitamin complex and an amino acid. Apropos of a series of 17 cases of epidermoid carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract]. / Traitement adjuvant de sujets atteints de lésions néoplasiques par l'association d'un complexe vitaminique et d'un acide aminé. A propos d'une série de 17 carcinomes épidermoïdes des voies aérodigestives supérieures.

The aim of the work reported here was to evaluate the effects of an adjuvant treatment composed of an association of vitamins with an amino acid: beta-alanine, in cancer patients. This adjuvant therapy has been given to 17 subjects with a squamous cell carcinoma of upper aerodigestive tract treated by radiotherapy most cases were T3 (according to the TNM-UICC). After a 63 months follow-up, 7 patients are alive and sterilized, 4 are alive but no sterilized, 2 died, 4 were excluded from the study. Besides a physical comfort improved in all our patients, we note a restoration of the immune defenses, both humoral and cellular, disturbed by radiotherapy. At last, we note an increase of survival in the patients treated by the adjuvant therapy, compared to a reference population of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of upper aerodigestive tract. Despite the limits of the study, it was interesting to report the positive effects of the therapeutical association, vitamins and beta-alanine, after a combined radio-surgical treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of upper aerodigestive tract.

Serum levels of carcinomedin (1-keto-24-methyl-25-hydroxycholecalciferol) as an indicator of the progression of cancer. Preliminary results of a prospective study.

The serum levels of the cholesterol derivative 1-keto-24-methyl-25-hydroxycholecalciferol found in patients with cancer varies after surgical, chemical or radiotherapy treatments. The serum level associated with the vitamin profile has a predictive value for evaluating progress of the disease and therapeutic efficacy. The detection, identification and assay of a vitamin D3 derivative, 1-keto-24-methyl-25-hydroxycholecalciferol, named carcinomedin by us, in the serum of cancer patients was described in prior work. Also, the assay of carcinomedin, combined with those of serum levels of vitamin A, beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol indicated a statistically significant correlation between these parameters and the localization of the primary neoplastic mass. In spite of the probable connection between carcinomedin and the presence of a neoplastic mass, several questions remain unanswered. In particular, it may be asked if the stage and progression of the tumor, surgical, chemotherapeutic or radiotherapeutic treatments may be related with any type of change in the serum levels of carcinomedin and fat soluble vitamins? To verify and respond to these questions, patients with various cancers (stomach, esophagus, breast, ovaries, uterus, etc.) were followed for three years. Clinical data were compared to analytical data supplied by assays of carcinomedin and the fat soluble vitamins.