[The combined therapy of stage-II lymphogranulomatosis: the effect of splenectomy and the time period for achieving full remission on treatment efficacy]. / Kombinirovannaia terapiia limfogranulematoza II stadii: vliianie splenéktomii i srokov dostizheniia polnoi remissii na éffektivnost' lecheniia.

In 1982-1986, 72 patients with stage II lymphogranulomatosis received combined treatment according to the following program: 3 cycles of polychemotherapy in accordance with the CVPP scheme plus radiation of all the lymphatic collectors above the diaphragm up to the total radiation dose 35 Gy plus 3 cycles according to the CVPP. Splenectomy was provided to 45 patients; spleen impairment was revealed in 13. The median observation period reached 67 months. Both short- and long-term results of the treatment were analyzed. Neither splenectomy nor specific impairment thereof exerted any effect on the treatment results of this patients' group. The predominance of a number of "favourable" prognostic factors in splenectomized patients produced no effect on the treatment efficacy. It is concluded that in this patients' group, splenectomy is not advisable. A significant relationship was discovered between both survival and duration of the relapse-free course and the times of complete remission attainment. In patients, in whom complete remission was ascertained after 3 cycles of polychemotherapy and before radiotherapy onset, the 7-year survival amounted to 100% whereas the 7-year relapse-free course was recorded in 98% of cases, which is significantly higher than in patients, in whom only partial remission was attained by that time--78 and 68%, respectively (p less than 0.05).

[Comparative evaluation of radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy in inoperable cancer of the esophagus]. / Sravnitel'naia otsenka luchevogo i khimioluchevogo lecheniia neoperabel'nogo raka pishchevoda.

The paper is concerned with the results of radiation therapy and three variants of chemoradiotherapy of 174 patients with inoperable esophageal cancer. Altogether 151 (87%) patients were given treatment from beginning to end. Complete tumor regression was noted in 41% of the patients after chemoradiotherapy and in 29%--after radiotherapy. The 2-year survival rates were 28 and 20%, the 5-year survival rates were 8 and 0%, respectively. Among the variants of chemoradiotherapy the most effective one was the combination of 5-FU with bleomycin, in which complete tumor regression was noted in 46% of the patients, and the 2-year survival was 43% versus 25% in the combination of 5-FU with adriamycin and 21% in its combination with methotrexate. Prognostically unfavorable factors were a degree of body mass deficiency, tumor spreading and a tumor site in the esophagus.

[The polychemotherapy and combined treatment of patients with stage-I and -II lymphogranulomatosis and unfavorable prognosis]. / Polikhimioterapiia i kombinirovannoe lechenie bol'nykh limfogranulematozom I--II stadii pri neblagopriiatnom prognoze.

As many as 104 patients with lymphogranulomatosis, clinical stages I-II, having an unfavourable prognosis were examined for the efficacy of polychemotherapy and combined treatment. Polychemotherapy was received by 47 patients, combined treatment (chemo- plus radiotherapy) by 57 patients. Complete remissions were attained significantly more often in patients given combined treatment (92%) as compared to patients on polychemotherapy alone (64%). After complete remissions relapses occurred in 60% of the patients on polychemotherapy and in 13% of the patients receiving combined treatment. The 7-year survival without any relapses was significantly higher (85%) in patients on combined therapy as compared to patients given polychemotherapy (36%). However, the 10-year survival appeared the same in both the groups (87 and 88%). Splenectomy affected neither the rate of relapses in both the groups nor the immediate treatment efficacy or survival.