Genomic mapping in outbred mice reveals overlap in genetic susceptibility for HZE ion- and γ-ray-induced tumors.

Cancer risk from galactic cosmic radiation exposure is considered a potential "showstopper" for a manned mission to Mars. Calculating the actual risks confronted by spaceflight crews is complicated by our limited understanding of the carcinogenic effects of high-charge, high-energy (HZE) ions, a radiation type for which no human exposure data exist. Using a mouse model of genetic diversity, we find that the histotype spectrum of HZE ion-induced tumors is similar to the spectra of spontaneous and γ-ray-induced tumors and that the genomic loci controlling susceptibilities overlap between groups for some tumor types. Where it occurs, this overlap indicates shared tumorigenesis mechanisms regardless of the type of radiation exposure and supports the use of human epidemiological data from γ-ray exposures to predict cancer risks from galactic cosmic rays.

[Post-myocardial infarction depression]. / La depresión tras el infarto agudo de miocardio.

Major depression is a common finding among patients recovering from a myocardial infarction. Additionally, clinically significant depressive symptoms are present in other patients whose symptom severity or duration does not meet established criteria for a diagnosis of major depression. Over the last decade, increasing evidence suggests that in addition to its effect on patient s quality of life, post-MI depression also deserves attention because of a reported relation to increased morbidity and mortality. This evidence report reviews the studies that have studied depression or depressive symptoms in patients after an MI and focuses on the prevalence, clinical significance, treatment, and methods of evaluating this condition. A large number of studies have evaluated various aspects of post-MI depression including prevalence, its association with mortality, and major adverse events, and treatment.

PDA y anestesiología / No disponible

No disponible

Artroplastia de muñeca y mano / Arthroplasty of the wrist and hand

Las manos son el principal órgano para la manipulación física del medio y la principal fuente de información táctil sobre el entorno. La especialización de los hemisferios cerebrales ha determinado que en el ser humano se produzca la dominancia de una mano para actividades de destreza, habilidad y/o fuerza sobre la otra. La cirugía de la mano es una de las ramas de la cirugía que con mayor rapidez se ha desarrollado desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, como tantos otros conocimientos médicos y quirúrgicos. La historia de las artroplastias está ligada al tratamiento del dolor y al intento de recuperar la funcionalidad de las articulaciones y, en el caso de las manos, a las graves de formaciones, secundarias a enfermedades inflamatorias crónicas invalidantes, como la artritis reumatoide (AR), o secuelas traumáticas. La indicación de artroplastia en la mano (interfalángica proximal, interfalángica distal, metacarpofalángica y trapecio metacarpiana) y la muñeca entraña una gran complejidad, por la estrecha relación funcional existente entre las articulaciones. La función de una articulación depende de las demás, y por lo tanto cualquier procedimiento practicado en una articulación incide en la actividad de las otras, y además la delicadeza de los tejidos blandos (tendones, ligamentos, etc.) complica notablemente las probabilidades de una rehabilitación adecuada. La rehabilitación y los cuidados postoperatorios desempeñan un papel muy importante en el éxito de la artroplastia. El objetivo fundamental es conseguir una movilidad precoz protegida. En función de la articulación y del tipo de artroplastia practicada se indican distintos procedimientos terapéuticos (AU)

The hands are the main organ for physicalmanipulation of the setting and primary source of tactile informationon the surroundings. The specialization of the cerebral hemisphere has determined that there is dominance of one hand for activities of skills, aptitudes and/or force over the other hand in the human being. Hand surgery is one of the branches of surgery with the fastest development since the Second World War, as other medical and surgical knowledge. The history of arthroplastiesis linked to treatment of pain and attempt to recover functionality of the joints and in the case of the hands, to the serious deformations, secondary to chronic, invalidating inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or traumatic sequels. The indication of arthroplasty in the hand (IPJ, PIP, MCP,TMJ) and wrist, entails great complexity due to the close functional relationship existing between the joints. The function of a joint depends on the others and thus any procedure performed in a joint affects the activity of the others and also the delicacy of the soft tissues (tendons, ligaments, etc.) significantly complicates the likelihoods of adequate rehabilitation. Rehabilitation and post-operative cares play a very important role in the success of the arthroplasty. The fundamental purpose is to achieve early protected mobility. Based on the joint and type of arthroplasty performed, different therapeutic procedures are indicated (AU)

Effect of thioridazine on gap junction intercellular communication in connexin 43-expressing cells.

Propagation of electrical activity between myocytes in the heart requires gap junction channels, which contribute to coordinated conduction of the heartbeat. Some antipsychotic drugs, such as thioridazine and its active metabolite, mesoridazine, have known cardiac conduction side-effects, which have resulted in fatal or nearly fatal clinical consequences in patients. The physiological mechanisms responsible for these cardiac side-effects are unknown. We tested the effect of thioridazine and mesoridazine on gap junction-mediated intercellular communication between cells that express the major cardiac gap junction subtype connexin 43. Micromolar concentrations of thioridazine and mesoridazine inhibited gap junction-mediated intercellular communication between WB-F344 epithelial cells in a dose-dependent manner, as measured by fluorescent dye transfer. Kinetic analyses demonstrated that inhibition by 10 micromol/L thioridazine occurred within 5 min, achieved its maximal effect within 1 h, and was maintained for at least 24 h. Inhibition was reversible within 1 h upon removal of the drug. Western blot analysis of connexin 43 in a membrane-enriched fraction of WB-F344 cells treated with thioridazine revealed decreased amounts of unphosphorylated connexin 43, and appearance of a phosphorylated connexin 43 band that co-migrated with a "hyperphosphorylated" connexin 43 band present in TPA-inhibited cells. When tested for its effects on cardiomyocytes isolated from neonatal rats, thioridazine decreased fluorescent dye transfer between colonies of beating myocytes. Microinjection of individual cells with fluorescent dye also showed inhibition of dye transfer in thioridazine-treated cells compared to vehicle-treated cells. In addition, thioridazine, like TPA, inhibited rhythmic beating of myocytes within 15 min of application. In light of the fact that the thioridazine and mesoridazine concentrations used in these experiments are in the range of those used clinically in patients, our results suggest that inhibition of gap junction intercellular communication may be one factor contributing to the cardiac side-effects observed in some patients taking these medications.

Combined therapy in the treatment of primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma: conventional versus escalated chemotherapy.

Treatment of patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) remains controversial. We started a controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a conventional versus more intensive regimen of combined chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy to the mediastinum with the mantle technique. From 1989 to 1997, 68 patients diagnosed with previously untreated PMBCL, aged 18-65 years and negative for immunodeficiency virus test, were considered candidates to receive either conventional chemotherapy with CEOP-Bleo (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m(2), vincristine 1.4 mg/m(2), prednisone 40 mg/m(2), epirubicin 70 mg/m(2), and bleomycin 10 mg/m(2)) or mega CEOP-Bleo (cyclophosphamide 1000 mg/m(2), epirubicin 120 mg/m(2), vincristine, prednisone, and bleomycin at the same doses) every 21 days for six cycles, followed by radiotherapy to the mediastinum with the mantle technique (35-45 Gy, mean 38 Gy). Complete response (CR) rates were not statistically different: 64% [95 percent confidence interval (CI): 58 percent to 70 percent] for conventional arm vs 81 percent (95 CI: 77-86 percent) in the intensive group (p=0.2). However, failure-free survival (FFS) and overall survival (OS) had statistical differences. At 5 years, actuarial FFS for patients treated with conventional chemotherapy was 51 percent (95 percent CI: 44-59 percent) compared to 70 percent (95 percent CI: 65-76 percent) in the intensive arm (p>0.01). OS rates were also different: 54 percent (95 percent CI: 48-57 percent) vs 70 percent (95 percent CI: 65-76 percent), respectively (p<0.01). Toxicity was mild and no therapy-related deaths were observed. At a median follow-up of 7.3 years, no second neoplasia or acute leukemia has been observed. The international prognostic index was not useful to define clinical risk in this selected group of patients. Multivariate analysis identified pleural and pericardial effusion and chemotherapy regimen as prognostic factors influencing FFS and OS. We feel that patients with PMBCL should be treated with more intensive, but not myeloablative chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant radiotherapy to achieve an improvement in outcome in this setting of patients. Patients with pleural or pericardial effusion are considered at high risk for failure with the actual programs of treatment and probably will be considered for experimental therapeutic approaches.

Late lethal events in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma: a review of 714 patients treated in a single centre.

Presence of late lethal events has been recognized as a complication in patients with malignant lymphoma. We reviewed 714 cases of patients treated during 1975-1995 with a long term follow-up (>4 years) in an attempt to identify all late events secondary to malignant lymphoma, either to the treatment or those which are unrelated. Forty-three patients died, and of these 21 (2.8%) were secondary to relapse and tumor progression; deaths associated with second neoplasm and cardiac events were increased 9.6 fold and 26.4 fold respectively compared to the general population. The risk factors for these complications did not differ from those in previous reports and included alkylating agents and/or radiotherapy for second neoplasms and anthracycline therapy and radiotherapy for cardiac toxicity. Moreover, 10 patients died secondary to non-related events. Nevertheless, at 10 years overall survival was 94% (95% confidence interval (CI): 82% to 98%) and event free survival was 97.1% (95% CI: 81% to 98%), for these patients. Thus, second events, fatal in most cases, will be considered as an expected risk in the treatment of patients with malignant lymphoma. The proposed modifications of therapy many indeed be useful to avoid or diminish these complications in the future.

Chemotherapy plus interferon-alpha2b versus chemotherapy in the treatment of follicular lymphoma.

The best treatment of follicular lymphoma remains to be determined because the long natural history of follicular lymphoma requires mature data for accurate analysis. Although the goal of primary treatment remains durable remission, the sequential application of effective treatments may also result in a prolongation of median survival time. The use of interferon (IFN) with doxorubicin-based chemotherapy has demonstrated an increase of event-free survival but not in overall survival; however, its acute and late cardiac toxicity limits its use. For this reason, we began a controlled clinical trial to assess the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy: COPP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and procarbazine) + IFN alternating every month for six cycles compared to six cycles of chemotherapy. In an intent-to treat analysis, 55 patients were enrolled (median age 61 years). Most cases (91%) with advanced disease were randomly assigned to chemotherapy + IFN (28 cases) or chemotherapy (27 cases). Complete remission was observed in 16 patients: 59% (95% CI, 53-70%) in the chemotherapy arm compared to 20 patients 71% (95% CI, 58-79%) in the chemotherapy + IFN arm; total responses were 74% and 86%, respectively. At a median follow-up of 60 months, event-free survival was 100% for patients treated with chemotherapy + IFN, which was statistically different from patients treated with chemotherapy 70%. At 7 years, median survival has not yet been reached; 72% of patients chemotherapy + IFN remain alive without disease (95% CI, 59-81%), which is not statistically different from 72% (95%CI, 50-73%) in the chemotherapy arm. Non-hematological toxicity was most frequent and severe in the chemotherapy arm; hematological toxicity was similar in both groups. Thus, it appears that chemotherapy + IFN, as described herein, improves event-free survival but the overall survival rates remain unchanged. The use of COPP appears to be better that anthracycline-based chemotherapy because it avoids the presence of acute and late cardiac toxicity.

Evaluation on a six-dose treatment of anti CD 20 monoclonal antibody in patients with refractory follicular lymphoma.

Treatment of refractory follicular lymphoma with monoclonal antibody CD 20 has been proven to be a good therapeutic option. However, most studies used four weekly doses and time to treatment failure (TTF) and overall survival (OS) could be considered very short: 11.0 and 13.6 months respectively. We started a pilot study to evaluate if six infusions at the same doses and schedule could improve the outcome in these patients. Seventeen patients with refractory follicular lymphoma heavily treated with chemotherapy (> 2 regimens), radiotherapy and biological modifiers were enrolled in a pilot study. They received 6 weekly doses, at 375 mg/m2, of monoclonal anti CD 20. In an intent to treat analysis, overall response was 76%, of which 47% (8 patients) were complete response and 5 patients were partial response. With a median follow-up of 28.6 months, 7 complete responders remain alive, free of disease, and 2 partial responses remain stable without additional treatment. Median to TTF has not been reached; yet, actuarial curves showed that at 3 years, 53% of patients are alive. The four patients who were failure died secondary to tumor progression. Overall survival (OS) at 3-year was 76%. Toxicity was mild, all patients completed the schedule on time and doses. The addition of two doses of anti CD 20 clearly improved OS and TTF in a group of patients with refractory follicular lymphoma heavily treated and with poor prognostic factors. However, the number is too short to draw definitive conclusions; more clinical trials are necessary to determine if 4 or 6 doses of anti CD 20 therapy are better in this setting of patients.

Rituximab in the treatment of refractory follicular lymphoma -- six doses are better than four.

Seventeen patients with refractory follicular lymphoma heavily treated with chemotherapy (>2 regimens), radiotherapy, and biological modifiers were enrolled in a pilot study to receive six weekly doses, instead of the more frequent four doses, of monoclonal anti CD20, at a standard dose of 375 mg/m(2). In an intent-to-treat analysis, overall response was 76%, of which 47% (8 patients) were a complete response. With a median follow-up of 33.6 months, 7 complete responders remained alive and free of disease, and 2 partial-response patients remained stable without additional treatment. Actuarial curves showed that at 3 years, 53% of patients should be alive and free of disease. The 4 patients who were failures died secondary to tumor progression. Overall survival at 3 years was 76%. Toxicity was mild; all patients completed the schedule on time and doses. The addition of two doses of anti-CD 20 clearly improved the outcome in a group of patients with refractory follicular lymphoma heavily treated and poor prognostic factors. However, the number is too small to drawn definitive conclusions, and more clinical trials are necessary to determine if four of six doses of anti-CD20 therapy are better in this setting of patients.

Treatment of refractory Hodgkin's disease with modified Stanford V program.

This study analyzes the results using an Stanford V modified program in the treatment of refractory Hodgkin's disease (RHD). We used cyclophosphamide instead of mechloretamine, and epirubicin instead of doxorubicin to avoid the risk of acute and late side effects associated with this drugs. Seventy-one patients with RHD were treated. All were at an advanced stage at therapy and had associated adverse prognostic factors. The complete response (CR) rate was 84% (60 patients; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 72-91%). At 5 yr, actuarial overall survival (CS) is 71% (95% Cl: 59-78%) and event-free survival (EFS) is 70% (95% CI: 59-79%). Only the duration of the initial complete response (> 12 mo) influenced the duration of EFS and OS. Toxicity was mild. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor to ameliorate the presence of severe myelosuppression was used only in a few patients. Cardiac function was not affected and, until now, late side effects has not been observed. Thus, the use of this modified Stanford program retains the usefulness of the original scheme both with less frequent and less severe acute and late side effects. A controlled clinical trial in untreated patients comparing the Stanford program with standard chemotherapy is warranted to define the role of this therapeutic option in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate Maintenance Therapy in Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma Treated with Intensive Chemotherapy.

Although complete response (CR) rate has been increased with the use of more intensive and in some cases myeloblative chemotherapy, long term follow-up has shown that relapse continues to be a major problem in patients with diffuse large cell lymphoma. Maintenance therapy is not considered as standard therapy in this group of patients. In our experience, the use of maintenance therapy either with low-doses of cyclophosphamide and prednisone (C/P) or interferon-α2b (IFN) improves the duration of event free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients treated with conventional chemotherapy. The use of more intensive chemotherapy increases the CR rate, but does not effect EFS and OS. We therefore started a controlled clinical trial to assess the efficacy and toxicity of maintenance therapy with C/P or IFN in patients on CR after intensive, non myeloablative, chemotherapy. From January 1994 to December 1996; 269 patients with diffuse large cell lymphoma (defined as patients with high- or high-intermediate clinical risk) were allocated to receive C/P (200mg/m(2), po, daily, by 5 days and 50 mg/m(2), po, daily, by 5 days, respectively, every 6 weeks by 2 years) or IFN: 5 MU three times at week by 1 year compared to a control group. In an intent to treat analysis, 269 patients were eligible for study. All were evaluated for EFS and OS. The median follow-up is 49.6 months. A comparison of the three groups revealed no significant differences on EFS: 72% (95% CI: 60% to 77%) for IFN arm; 71% (95% CI: 62% to 82%) for C/P group and 74% (95% CI: 68% to 85%) in the control group (p =.8). Also OS was not different: 70% (95% CI: 59% to 79%); 68% (95% CI: 60% to 78%) and 72% (95% CI: 63% to 78%) respectively (p =.750). All patients completed the programmed schedule. Toxicity was mild. Previously we demonstrated that maintenance therapy is useful in patients with aggressive malignant lymphoma when they were treated with conventional chemotherapy. However, when more intensive chemotherapy was used to achieve CR, maintenance therapy was not useful. We do not have a convincing explanation. We believe that intensive chemotherapy may eradicate all sensitive cells to drugs, such as IFN or C/P, and for this reason improve survival was not observed. On the other hand, in patients treated with conventional chemotherapy, some residual and sensitive tumor cells must remain and maintenance therapy may eliminate this cells, with improvement in EFS and OS. Long term follow-up is necessary and for the controlled clinical trials to define the role of maintenance therapy in patients with aggressive malignant lymphoma are required.

High dose chemotherapy with G-CSF in refractory Hodgkin's disease.

This study analyzed the long-term results in patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) who were resistant or refractory to conventional chemotherapy and who were treated with intensive, non-myeloablative chemotherapy with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) as hematological support. The study population included 86 patients who were treated with combination chemotherapy with high doses: BCNU, 300 mg/m2, on day 1, vincristine 1.4 mg/m2, and bleomycin 10 mg/m2 on days 1, 7, 14 and 21; etoposide 500 mg/m2, i.v., on days 14 and 15; and ifosfamide 4 g/m2, and epirubicin 180 mg/m2, on day 29. G-CSF 5 ug/kg/day, was used to ameliorate severe myelosuppression on days 3 to 13, 16 and 26 and 29 to 38. If a complete response was observed, two cycles of IOPP (ifosfamide 1.5 g/m2, i.v., on days 1 and 8; vincristine 1.4 mg/m2, i.v. on days 1 and 8; prednisone 60 mg/m2, p.o., daily, days 1 to 14 and procarbazine 100 ng/m2, p.o., daily, days 1 to 14 vere given as consolidation therapy. At 8-years, the overall survival rate vas 58% (50 out of 86 patients) being 38 and 76% in patients whose initial complete response was shorter or longer that 12 months, respectively or in 44% of induction failures. Hematological toxicity grade III or IV was observed in all cycles. However hematological recovery was already evident (median on day 13). Only transitory delay in continuing therapy was observed (median 3.9 days). Twenty-two patients developed infection-related granulocytopenia but no therapy related deaths were observed. G-CSF was well tolerated. This study indicates that the hematopoetic growth factor, G-CSF, was sufficient to act as hematological support in patients who received intensive, but non-myeloablative chemotherapy. In our opinion intensive chemotherapy without autologous transplant procedures can be considered in patients with refractory Hodgkin's disease because complete response rate and overall survival times are similar to more aggressive but more toxic regimens.

Maintenance therapy with interferon alfa 2b in Hodgkin's disease.

We performed a randomized clinical trial to assess the efficacy and toxicity of interferon alfa 2b (IFN) as maintenance therapy in patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease in complete remission (CR) after conventional chemotherapy. One hundred and thirty-five patients (stage IIIB-IV B) were initially treated with EBVD (epirubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine). IF CR was achieved they were randomly assigned to receive either maintenance therapy with IFN 5.0 MU three times a week for one year or no further treatment (control group). Clinical and laboratory characteristics at diagnosis were quite similar in both groups. After a median follow-up of 74.3 months (range 49 to 108), 61 out of 68 patients (91%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 76% to 97%) remain in first complete remission in the IFN-treated group compared to 38 out of 67 (58%; 95% CI: 49% to 71%) in the control group (p<.01). Overall survival was also better in the IFN treated group: 62 patients (92%; 95% CI: 82% to 97%) are alive free of disease at 7-years compared to 40 patients (67%, 95%: 55% to 76%) in the control group (p<.01). Toxicity secondary to IFN administration was mild and no dose modification was necessary during treatment. All patients received the planned dose of IFN. This was not an intent-to treat analysis. IFN administration as maintenance therapy was appears to be the only cause of improvement in outcome in these patients. We feel that IFN should be considered as maintenance therapy in patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease because this treatment improves the final outcome without the excessive toxicities of more aggressive therapeutic approaches such as bone marrow transplantation during first CR. We hope that IFN will be considered in future randomized clinical trials in order to define it's role in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease.

Maintenance Therapy with Interferon Alfa 2b Improves Outcome in Aggressive Malignant Lymphoma.

To assess the efficacy and toxicity of interferon alfa 2b (IFN) as maintenance therapy in patients with malignant lymphoma on complete response after conventional chemotherapy we start a randomized clinical trial. One hundred and seventy patients were randomized to received either IFN 5.0 MU three time at week by one year or no further treatment, as control group. At a median follow-up of 9.0 years (range 4.3 to 11 years) median freedom from relapse (FFR) has not been reached in patients who received IFN, it is statistically significant to patients in control group with a median FFR of 60 months (p <.001). Actuarial curves show that at 10-years, 58 patients (66%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 53% to 79%) remain in first remission, statistical different to control group 33 patients (40%, 95% Cl: 33% to 57%) (p <.001). Event free survival (EFS) shown that a 10-years 63 patients (71%, 95% CI: 59% to 81%) are alive free of disease in the IFN arm compared to only 38 patients (45%, 95% CI: 37% to 57%) in the control group (p <.001). Toxicity was mild, 81 patients received the planned doses of IFN on time and 6 patients had transitory delay secondary to hematological toxicity (grade 1 or 2) and completed the treatment on 13 months. No late side effects has been observed. After a long term follow-up we confirm that IFN used as maintenance therapy improves outcome in patients with aggressive malignant lymphoma who were in complete remission after conventional chemotherapy without excessive toxicity. We feld that IFN will be consider in controlled clinical trials to define the role of this therapeutic option.

High Dose Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Poor Prognosis Malignant Lymphoma.

UNLABELLED: The aim of the present study was to evaluate an intensive chemotherapy regimen in patients with poor prognosis malignant lymphoma. Sixty previously untreated patients with malignant lymphoma of high- or high-intermediate risk were treated with an intensive regimen. Patients received increasing doses of cyclophosphamide 1000 mg/m(2), and epirubicin 120 mg/m(2), in an CEOP-Bleo regimen with granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor as hematological support. Moreover the high clinical risk patients had more adverse prognostic factors such as bulky disease, elevated levels of beta 2 microglobulin and multiple extranodal sites of involvement at diagnosis. Complete response was achieved in 49 out of 60 patients (81%) (95% confidence interval 63% to 89%). With a median follow-up of 43.6 months (ranged 31 to 61 months), only five patients have relapsed. Thus, at 5-years 72% of the patients remain in first complete response and 74% of the patients are alive free of disease. TOXICITY: severe granulocytopenia was observed in the 46% of the chemotherapy cycles; infection-related granulocytopenia was observed in 17%, but no fatality due therapy was observed. Granulocyte recovery was faster and delay on treatment was minimal (3.4 days). No thrombocytopenia, severe mucositis or cardiac abnormalities were observed. The CEOP-Bleo regimen with increasing doses of cyclophosphamide and epirubicin is an useful and well tolerated regimen for the treatment of poor prognosis malignant lymphoma.

Bone marrow protection with amifostine in the treatment of high-risk malignant lymphoma.

Based on preclinical and clinical studies which suggested that amifostine can protect against haematological toxicity of cyclophosphamide, we conducted a clinical trial of amifostine and intermediate doses of cyclophosphamide in patients with high-risk malignant lymphoma. 40 patients were enrolled to receive amifostine (910 mg/m2) before cyclophosphamide (1500 mg/m2) for two cycles (10 patients); 20 patients were allocated to receive amifostine/cyclophosphamide only on one cycle (patients were their own control) and 10 patients received cyclophosphamide alone without amifostine protection. Patients who received amifostine had fewer days of severe granulocytopenia (grade III or IV) and infectious episodes, and delay on treatment was minimal. Amifostine was well tolerated; only 2 patients developed transient and mild hypotension. The complete response rate was 72% (29/40). We conclude that amifostine is a good protector against haematological toxicity of cyclophosphamide and did not interfere with tumour response. Clinical trials with increasing doses of cytotoxic drugs or combination chemotherapy are needed to define the role of this myeloprotector agent in the treatment of patients with malignant lymphoma.

Epirubicin (CEOP-Bleo) versus idaurubicin (CIOP-Bleo) in the treatment of elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: dose escalation studies.

One hundred and sixty nine untreated elderly patients (median age 69 years old; range 60-89 years old) with high or high-intermediate clinical risk non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were enrolled in a controlled clinical trial to evaluate escalated doses of epirubicin in a CEOP-Bleo regimen (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, epirubicin, prednisone and bleomycin), compared to escalated doses of idaurubicin in an CIOP-Bleo regimen (idaurubicin instead of epirubicin). Overall, 71% of the patients in the CEOP-Bleo arm achieved a complete response compared to only 48% in the CIOP-Bleo regimen (p < 0.01). At actuarial 3 year, 72% of the patients treated with the CEOP-Bleo regimen remained alive and free of disease, compared to 34% in the CIOP-Bleo arm (p < 0.01). Dose intensity was 0.86 in the epirubicin regimen, similar to 0.82 in the idaurubicin arm. Toxicities were more frequent and severe in the CEOP-Bleo regimen; however, no death-related treatment was observed in either groups. Cardiac toxicity was also similar in both arms. We conclude that treatment of elderly paitents with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma should be considered a curative attempt and not only palliative. The use of full doses of chemotherapy should be contemplated in elderly patients. Epirubicin, in escalating doses, is a drug with mild toxicity and improvement in outcome in this setting is observed. We cannot confirm the usefulness of idaurubicin, including escalating doses, in the treatment of patients with aggressive malignant lymphoma, because the complete response rate and survival were worse than other chemotherapy regimens. We feel that the CEOP-Bleo regimen with escalated doses of epirubicin is a useful option in the treatment of elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.