Experience and prospects for the use of off-label drugs in oncology.

According to the World Health Organization, half of all drugs available on the global pharmaceutical market are sometimes used for indications that are not included in the instruction for use. This method of therapy has the term "off-label use" which means the use "out of instruction". Today, off-label drugs are also prescribed for cancer treatment. For example, a drug developed to treat one type of tumor can sometimes be used to treat other types of cancer. The treatment of certain types of pain with tricyclic antidepressants is also an example of the off-label drugs used in oncology. An example of an off-label prescription is anxiolytic medicine lorazepam, which can be used off-label as an antiemetic in cancer patients. Low doses of naltrexone are applied to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. A retrospective analysis of modern oncotherapy indicates that oncologists often use off-label drugs in combination therapy, especially in the treatment of patients with concomitant diseases, in case of progressive development of the tumor, or to reduce the toxicity and cost of treatment components. American oncologists are of the opinion that if all the drugs prescribed by the International Recommendations failed in the treatment of cancer, doctors can prescribe off-label medications, but only if their effectiveness and safety are clearly established. The problem of the off-label use of drugs in oncology has not yet been studied in detail, however, this direction has certain promising prospects.

Analysis of the He-, Ar- and Kr-broadening coefficients of water vapor transitions in a wide spectral region.

An analysis of the measured He-, Ar- and Kr- broadening coefficients γ for 1575 water vapor transitions of 27 vibrational bands belonging to the 0.6-11,200 cm-1 spectral region is performed using an empirical function that contains adjustable parameters. A universal function is detected during the analysis. This function depends on the parameters that are common for all perturbers A = (He, Ar or Kr). A universal function multiplied by one additional parameter x20(A) determines the broadening coefficients γ(A) for each perturber A = (He, Ar or Kr).Two fitting procedures are used. The first considers the fit of measured γ(exp) for individual rotational branches while the other considers the global fit of all 1575 measured γ(exp). In the second procedure, ratios of γ(Kr)/γ(He) = 2.543 ± 0.040 and γ(Kr)/γ(Ar) = 1.252 ± 0.036 are found. The coefficients derived from the fitted parameters are compared statistically to measured coefficients.

Study of the H2O dipole moment and polarisability vibrational dependence by the analysis of rovibrational line shifts.

The study of the H2O dipole moment µ and polarisability α vibrational dependence is based on the comparison of experimental and calculated line shifts induced by argon, nitrogen, and air pressure in different H2O vibrational bands. Obtained dependence α on the stretching vibrations is in good agreement with the existing ab initio calculations in the literature, but the dependence α on the bending vibration is quite different. To clarify the dependence of µ and α on the bending vibration, the shifts of selected H2O lines of the 4ν2, 5ν2, and 6ν2 bands induced by argon, hydrogen and helium pressure are measured with the help of a Bruker IFS HR 125 spectrometer at room temperature with a spectral resolution of 0.01 cm-1. The comparison of experimental and calculated results with different values of µ and α line shifts is given.

Fourth-Order Rotational Corrections to the Effective Dipole Moments of Nonrigid Asymmetric Rotors.

An expression for the fourth-order rotational correction terms of the effective dipole moments of nonrigid asymmetric rotors has been derived using the method of contact transformation. The treatment takes into account the large-amplitude bending motion. The correction terms have been calculated for the different bending states of the H(2)O molecule. A poor convergence of the rotational series for this molecule has been obtained and some different nonpolynomial forms for these series, obtained by different summation methods, have been proposed and tested. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

[A combined surgery for locally invaded lung cancer]. / Vypolnenie kombinirovannoi operatsii po povodu mestnorasprostranennogo raka legkogo.

In 38 patients the extended combined pneumonectomy was conducted for locally spread pulmonary cancer (LSPC). Postoperative lethality have constituted 7.8%, the survival index during first year-55.2%.

[Massive arterial air embolism--a complication of heart surgery with extracorporeal circulation (clinical picture, prevention, treatment)]. / Massivnaia arterial'naia vozdushnaia émboliia--oslozhnenie operatsii na serdtse v usloviiakh iskusstvennogo krovoobrashcheniia (klinika, profilaktika, lechenie).

Based on the literature data, the discussion covers the causes, preventive measures, and treatment of massive arterial air embolism, which is one of the most dangerous complications of artificial circulation (AC). Cerebral retroperfusion, hyperbaric oxygenation, low-temperature AC, and long-term administration of antihypoxic agents in the postoperative period have been considered most effective in the management of air embolism. The authors present their experience of successful management of four massive arterial air embolism cases, which is 0.22 percent of AC-assisted operations performed since 1984. Combined retrograde cerebral reperfusion and hypothermic AC have been used in the cases under discussion. Since it is impossible to determine the extent of embolism-associated brain damage and the limits of reliability of the applied therapy, it is essential in each embolism case to make use of all therapeutic means that are available in the given situation to combat this grave complication.

[The use of antioxidants and preparations improving the microcirculation in the surgical treatment of cancer of the lung in elderly patients]. / Primenenie antioksidantov v preparatov, uluchshaiushchikh mikrotsirkuliatsiiu, pri khirurgicheskom lechenii raka legkogo u bol'nykh pozhilogo vozrasta.

The effectiveness of antioxidants and preparations improving microcirculation in surgical treatment of 118 elderly patients with pulmonary cancer was studied. The use of antioxidants of tocopherol acetate and retinol acetate in combination with complamin has proved to be the most effective. Reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular and pulmonary complications after the operation was noted.

[Surgical treatment of lung cancer in elderly patients]. / Khirurgicheskoe lechenie raka legkogo u bol'nykh pozhilogo vozrasta.

The immediate results of surgical treatment of pulmonary cancer in 217 elderly patients were studied. The dependence of the incidence of postoperative complications and lethality on the age, presence of concomitant pathology and extent of operative intervention was revealed. By means of the multifactor mathematical analysis, the decisive principles for individual prognostication of the course of postoperative period have been developed.

[Biochemical and morphological aspects of the aggregation capability of thrombocytes in peritonitis]. / Nekotorye biokhimicheskie i morfologicheskie aspekty agregatsionnoi sposobnosti trombotsitov pri peritonite.

44 patients with peritonitis of different etiology and two groups of differently-aged donors (19 persons) have been examined. Blood plasma levels of malonic dialdehyde and platelet morphological properties have been studied. In patients with peritonitis platelets are deformed and solid platelet aggregates are observed. Platelet activation is accompanied by augmented malonic dialdehyde blood content, its level further increasing with the progress of peritonitis.