Anticancer research
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Anticancer research · Mar 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialComparison of octreotide administration vs conservative treatment in the management of inoperable bowel obstruction in patients with far advanced cancer: a randomized, double- blind, controlled clinical trial.
Conservative treatment of inoperable bowel obstruction in terminal cancer patients has been found to be effective in controlling the distressing symptoms caused by this complication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of octreotide in the management of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, secondary to bowel obstruction in terminally ill cancerpatients, when surgery was inappropriate. ⋯ The administration of octreotide, in combination with traditional pharmacological treatment, can be very effective in the symptom management of inoperable bowel obstruction in terminal cancerpatients
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Anticancer research · Mar 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA clinical study of taxotere versus taxotere plus the antiprolactinemic agent bromocriptine in metastatic breast cancer pretreated with anthracyclines.
Prolactin (PRL) constitutes a growth factor for breast cancer cell proliferation and abnormally elevated blood concentrations of PRL are associated with poor prognosis and reduced efficacy of antitumor therapies in metastatic breast carcinoma. It has already been demonstrated that low-dose bromocriptine, an antiprolactinemic long-acting dopaminergic drug, normalizes PRL blood concentrations in metastatic breast cancer patients with abnormally elevated PRL levels. In addition, previous clinical studies have already demonstrated a lower efficacy of chemotherapy with taxotere in metastatic breast cancer, with persistent hyperprolactinemia. ⋯ Moreover, a stable disease (SD) was obtained in 5 out of 16 patients treated with taxotere alone and in 7 out of 14 patients concomitantly treated with bromocriptine. Therefore, the percent of non-progressive disease (PR + SD) achieved in patients treated with taxotere plus bromocriptine was significantly higher with respect to that found in patients treated with taxotere alone (12 out of 14 vs 7 out of 16, p < 0.025). This preliminary clinical study would suggest that the inhibition of PRL secretion by antiprolactinemic drugs such as bromocriptine may enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.