Gan to kagaku ryoho. Cancer & chemotherapy
-
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for patients with moderate or severe pain, morphine has been used as a "gold standard" treatment for cancer pain. Recent clinical experiences have demonstrated that when morphine is used to control pain in cancer patients, psychological dependence is not a major concern. However, undue anxiety about psychological dependence on morphine in cancer patients has caused physicians and patients to use inadequate doses of opioids. ⋯ The use of morphine for the treatment of pain is sometimes accompanied with side effects such as emesis, constipation and drowsiness. We show that the lower doses of morphine produce emesis, whereas antinociceptive doses of morphine show no emetic responses in ferrets. These findings provide further evidence that an adequate dose of morphine is useful and safe in a clinical setting.
-
Gan To Kagaku Ryoho · Oct 2005
Review[Usefulness and positioning of MAB therapy for prostate cancer].
Prostate cancer is a relatively slow-growing disease compared to other cancers, and the patients tend to be older. Taking into consideration therefore life expectancy of the patients and risks of recurrence and progression, conservative treatments (mainly hormonal therapy) are often applied for early cases, as well as radical treatments (total prostatectomy and radiotherapy). Particularly in Japan, many patients start treatment with hormonal therapy alone, in both early and advanced cases. ⋯ In Phase III clinical studies of MAB therapy with bicalutamide being conducted in Japan for patients in Stages C and D, however, the patient group treated with MAB therapy demonstrated more favorable results compared to the group treated with LH-RH agonist alone, particularly in terms of time to progression (TTP) of the patients in Stage C. These are relatively new findings on the usefulness and adaptability of MAB therapy. In this Panel Discussion, views and experiences are exchanged on a wide variety of topics covering the real usefulness of MAB therapy, its adaptability, possible outcomes of hormonal therapy in early cases, and the future of MAB therapy, taking into account the prevailing opinions and current practices on prostate cancer in both the United States and Japan.