Oncology reports
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Clinical Trial
A pilot study of metronomic temozolomide treatment in patients with recurrent temozolomide-refractory glioblastoma.
Frequent regular administration of chemotherapeutic agents at low doses, known as 'metronomic chemotherapy', can increase the anti-angiogenic activity of the drugs, as has been confirmed by several other experimental tumor models. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of metronomic temozolomide (TMZ) treatment in twelve consecutive patients with recurrent TMZ-refractory glioblastoma. The patients were administered by metronomic treatment schedule (continuous low-dose chemotherapy) with TMZ at a daily dose of 40 mg/m(2). ⋯ Estimated PFS (CR+PR+SD) was 58.3% at 3 months. Grade III/IV toxicity according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI CTC) was not found. These results suggest that the change of chemotherapeutic schedule from conventional to metronomic treatment overcomes the chemo-resistance in patients with recurrent TMZ-refractory glio-blastoma without any major toxicity.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Cobrotoxin-containing analgesic compound to treat chronic moderate to severe cancer pain: results from a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study and from an open-label study.
Cobrotoxin produces intense analgesia but it has an onset of response of 1-3 h which hampers its clinical use in cancer pain. Recently, a compound analgesic formulation combining cobrotoxin, tramadol hydrochloride and ibuprofen (Compound Keluoqu, CKLQ) has become available in China. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of CKLQ for moderate to severe cancer pain. ⋯ The frequency of adverse events for CKLQ was similar to that of tramadol hydrochloride. The results of the randomized, double-blind, cross-over study and the open-label study of CKLQ in cancer patients with chronic moderate to severe cancer pain suggest that the CKLQ may be valuable for the treatment of chronic moderate to severe cancer pain. However, the tolerance of CKLQ remains to be further defined.