[A case of bilateral pulmonary metastasis from rectal cancer successfully treated with resection after high-dose 5'-DFUR plus MMC combination chemotherapy].

We reported a case of successful treatment of bilateral pulmonary metastasis from rectal cancer with high-dose 5'-DFUR plus MMC combination chemotherapy. A woman born in 1948 showed a recurrence in the bilateral lung about 29 months after low anterior resection. High-dose 5'-DFUR plus MMC combination chemotherapy was started in March, 1991. The chest X-ray examination 8 weeks after beginning this therapy showed a remarkable decrease in the size of the pulmonary metastatic foci and CEA decreased in the same way. The dose of 5'-DFUR was reduced after 5 courses, and then CEA increased. No remarkable side effect was encountered and the patient could be safely treated at an outpatient clinic. During this therapy no recurrence has been detected, and we performed a resection of the bilateral pulmonary metastasis by median sternotomy in October, 1991. The above findings suggested that this was an effective and safe therapy for pulmonary metastasis from colon cancers and could be a neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for surgical resection of pulmonary metastasis.

[Successful treatment of disseminated breast cancer with combination therapy of 5'-deoxy-5'-fluorouridine (5'-DFUR), medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and cyclophosphamide (CPA)].

A 54 year-old female patient with disseminated breast cancer refractory to various kinds of previous therapies was treated with a combination therapy of 5'-DFUR, MPA and CPA. Partial response (PR) was obtained both against pleural and liver metastases with complete disappearance (CR) of soft tissue lesions and was still being continued for the following 7 months. No serious side effects were observed except for a mild degree of diarrhea and moon face. The patient was enjoying a favorable quality of life. We confirmed that this combination regimen was effective as the second line treatment for disseminated breast cancer.

[A case of pulmonary metastasis from colon cancer responding completely to high-dose 5'-DFUR plus MMC combination chemotherapy].

A woman born in 1924 with colon cancer initially operated on approximately four years ago showed a second recurrence in the lung. Concomitant administration of high dose 5'-DFUR plus MMC was started in February, 1990. Chest X-ray examination six weeks after the start of this therapy revealed a remarkable decrease in size of the pulmonary metastatic focus. At 13 weeks after the start of this therapy, the pulmonary metastatic focus showed nearly complete disappearance. The condition above has been maintained until this writing, eight months after the start of this therapy. No recurrence has been observed in the liver and other organs either, while CEA has normalized from 17.6 ng/ml to 0.9 ng/ml. The therapy was discontinued after five courses based on the moderate loss of appetite and complete disappearance of the lung focus. No other side effect than the loss of appetite was detected, and could be safely treated at an outpatient clinic. The above findings suggested that this was an effective and safe therapy for pulmonary metastasis from colon cancers.

[Clinical significance of a tumor marker NCC-ST-439 in breast cancer--a comparative study with CA 15-3, CEA and TPA].

We compared a new tumor marker NCC-ST-439 (ST-439) with CA 15-3, CEA and TPA for its clinical usefulness in 600 patients with breast cancer (81, primary; 49, recurrent; 470, non-recurrent), and confirmed the following results. The sensitivity of ST-439 (41.5%) was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than that of CA 15-3 (26.2%), CEA (28.5%) and TPA (26.9%). The specificity of ST-439 (84.5%), however, was considerably lower (p less than 0.01) than these other three markers. In primary cases, the positive rate of ST 439 (34.6%) was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than that of the other markers, and was remarkable in the early stage. As to the positive rate at the various metastatic sites, there were a few differences among these four markers. Because of no significant correlation among these markers, combination assay with ST-439, CA 15-3 and CEA showed an excellent sensitivity (57.7%). These results suggest that ST-439 is a useful tumor marker not only in monitoring the recurrence, but also in the diagnosis of primary cancer.

[A case of disseminated breast cancer successfully treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate].

We reported the successful treatment of disseminated breast cancer with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). The patient was a 52-year-old female with brain and bone metastasis developed 1 year after surgery. The primary tumor was ER-positive, and she had been treated previously with adjuvant therapy consisting of UFT and tamoxifen. Brain metastasis was surgically removed, but the following combination chemotherapy (epirubicin and vindesine) failed to result in further improvement. Then MPA (1,200 mg/day) was administered as the second-line therapy. After 6 months, multiple bone lesions showed remarkable calcification (PR) and disappeared completely (CR) 13 months later. But the patient was forced to discontinue MPA because of uncontrollable hyperglycemia. At this writing, CR was still being continued and the patient was enjoying favorable quality of life without any treatment. We confirmed that MPA was effective as the second-line treatment for disseminated breast cancer.