Gan to kagaku ryoho. Cancer & chemotherapy
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Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies among Japanese women. Approximately 40,000 new patients are diagnosed annually. ⋯ It was widely accepted that for breast cancer as a systemic disease, appropriate systemic treatment of either chemotherapy and endocrine therapy improved the survival. We describe here the contributions of new agents to the improvement in survival for breast cancer patients and introduced the concept of dose density.
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Gan To Kagaku Ryoho · Jun 2006
Review[Timeline from discovery of 5-FU to development of an oral anticancer agent S-1 and its drug concept].
C. Heidelberger et al left great gifts to us. Approximately 50 years have elapsed since their discovery of 5-FU in 1957 before eventually elucidating the mechanisms by which the drug exerts its pharmacological actions and provokes its adverse reactions. ⋯ From 2001 to 2005, S-1 was approved for the treatment of head and neck cancer, colon cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and breast cancer. S-1 has been applied to acquire its expanded indications for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and biliary tract cancer. We are confident that the combined regimen of S-1 with other anticancer agents and with other therapeutic modalities will contribute to the routine medical practice of cancer treatment in the future.
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Gan To Kagaku Ryoho · Mar 2006
Review[Efficacy of postoperative adjuvant therapy for resected non-small cell lung cancer--an evidence-based review].
Efficacy of postoperative adjuvant therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was examined based on recent evidence. In 2003, when a clinical guideline for lung cancer had been published, the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant therapy had not been established. However, results of randomized controlled studies and metaanalysis on the efficacy of postoperative chemotherapy, platinum-based chemotherapy or UFT, were presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held in 2003-2005. Thus, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for completely resected NSCLC cases is now a standard care of therapy.
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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.
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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.