Seminars in oncology
-
In women with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer, secondary treatment options include surgery and chemotherapy. Surgery should be considered in patients with persistent disease at the time of second-look laparotomy and before chemotherapy in those whose disease recurs following long-term remission. With regard to secondary chemotherapy, active agents include cisplatin, carboplatin, ifosfamide, and paclitaxel. ⋯ Patients who receive platinum therapy initially and relapse after long periods of remission often respond to second-line platinum treatment. Ifosfamide may be effective in patients receiving one or two prior cisplatin-containing regimens, but is contraindicated in those with hepatic or renal insufficiency. Paclitaxel is the drug of choice for patients who have developed primary resistance to platinum therapy.
-
Seminars in oncology · Jun 1994
ReviewCombined chemotherapy and radiation in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The majority of patients with locally advanced, unresectable, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with conventional radiation therapy develop distant metastases and succumb to the disease. Thus, NSCLC should be viewed as a systemic disease, and attempts to control micrometastatic disease with chemotherapy should have a greater impact on survival. This does not eliminate the role of radiation therapy, as locoregional control is equally important. ⋯ Preliminary results show that the combination is feasible and well tolerated; median survival rates compare favorably to those seen in the combined-modality arms of the randomized, sequential studies. Definitive conclusions based on the results of the reported studies are not possible, yet there seems to be a potential benefit to adding chemotherapy to radiation therapy. These trials need to be confirmed before they can be used to define a "standard of care" for patients with locally advanced, unresectable NSCLC.