Phase II trial of recombinant human endostatin in combination with concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Endostar combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC were treated with Endostar (7.5mg/m(2)/d) for 7days at weeks 1, 3, 5, and 7, while two cycles of docetaxel (65mg/m(2)) and cisplatin (65mg/m(2)) were administered on days 8 and 36, with concurrent thoracic radiation to a dose of 60-66Gy. Primary end points were short-term efficacy and treatment-related toxicity. RESULTS: Fifty patients were enrolled into the study, and 48 were assessable. Of the 48 patients, 83% had stage IIIB and 65% had N3 disease. Median follow-up was 25.0months. Overall response rate was 77%. The estimated median progression-free survival (PFS) was 9.9months, and the estimated median overall survival (OS) was 24.0months. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year local control rates were 75%, 67%, and 51%, PFS rates were 48%, 27%, and 16%, and OS rates were 81%, 50%, and 30%, respectively. All toxicities were tolerable with proper treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of Endostar with CCRT for locally advanced NSCLC patients was feasible and showed promising survival and local control rates.

Studies on pentoxifylline and tocopherol combination for radiation-induced heart disease in rats.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether the application of pentoxifylline (PTX) and tocopherol l (Vit. E) could modify the development of radiation-induced heart disease and downregulate the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1mRNA in rats. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 120 Sprague-Dawley rats were separated into four groups: control group, irradiated group, experimental group 1, and experiment group 2. Supplementation was started 3 days before irradiation; in experimental group 1, injection of PTX (15 mg/kg/d) and Vit. E (5.5 mg/kg/d) continued till the 12th week postirradiation, whereas in experimental group 2 it was continued until the 24th week postirradiation. All rats were administrated a single dose of 20 Gy irradiation to the heart except the control group. Histopathologic evaluation was performed at various time points (Days 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 and 24th week) up to 24 weeks after irradiation. Changes of levels of TGF-beta1 mRNA expression were also investigated at the same time points using competitive polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Compared with the irradiated group, levels of TGF-beta1 mRNA of the rat hearts were relatively low in the two experimental groups on the 12th week postirradiation. In experimental group 1, there was a rebound expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA on the 24th week postirradiation, whereas that of the experimental group 2 remained low (p < 0.05). The proportions of collagen fibers of the two experimental groups were lower than that of irradiated group (p < 0.05). A rebound could be observed in the experimental group 1. CONCLUSION: PTX and Vit. E downregulated the expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA. The irradiated rat hearts showed a marked pathologic response to the drugs. The withdrawal of drugs in the 12th week postirradiation could cause rebound effects of the development of fibrosis.