Biomedical subjects

Athanasios Kotsakis

Publications and source records attributed to Athanasios Kotsakis.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with vinorelbine as salvage treatment in pretreated patients with advanced breast cancer: a multicentre phase II study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the activity and tolerance of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with vinorelbine in pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer. PATIENTS AND TREATMENT: Thirty-six women with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled. The median age was 64 years, 80% of the patients had a performance status of 0-1, 30 (83%) had visceral disease and 83% had received prior taxanes while 50% anthracyclines. Treatment consisted of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (40 mg/m2 on day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2 on days 1 and 15) every 4 weeks. RESULTS: In an intention-to-treat analysis 2 (6%) complete and 12 (33%) partial responses were observed (overall response rate 39%; 95% CI: 23-54.8%); 8 (22%) and 14 (39%) patients experienced stable and progressive disease, respectively. The median TTP was 6.5 months and the median survival time 14.2 months. The 1-year survival rate was 54.1%. Grade 3 and 4 neutropenia occurred in 21 (58%) patients, grade 3-4 anemia in four (11%) and grade 4 thrombocytopenia in one (3%). Two (6%) patients developed febrile neutropenia. Non-hematologic toxicity was mild and easily manageable. There was no clinically important cardiac toxicity or treatment-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin and vinorelbine is an active and well tolerated salvage regimen in patients with metastatic breast cancer which merits further evaluation.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

A multicenter phase II study of sequential vinorelbine and cisplatin followed by docetaxel and gemcitabine in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the activity and toxicity of the sequential administration of vinorelbine/cisplatin (VC regimen) followed by the docetaxel/gemcitabine (DG regimen) combination in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND TREATMENT: Fifty-nine previously untreated patients with advanced/metastatic NSCLC received three cycles of cisplatin 80 mg/m(2) (day 1), and vinorelbine 30 mg/m(2) (days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks; VC regimen), followed by six cycles of docetaxel (65 mg/m(2), day 1) and gemcitabine (1,500 mg/m(2), day 1), (DG regimen) every 2 weeks. RESULTS: One (1.7%) complete and 26 (44.1%) partial responses were achieved for an overall response rate of 45.8% (95% CI 33.05-58.48%); 12 (20.3%) patients had stable disease and 20 (33.9%) progressive disease. The median time to progression was 5.3 months, the median survival time 12.5 months and the 1-year survival rate 51%. The main toxicity was grade III/IV neutropenia occurring in 25.5% of patients; all other hematologic and non-hematologic toxicities were relatively infrequent. CONCLUSIONS: The sequential administration of VC and DG regimens was well tolerated and active against advanced NSCLC and merits to be further evaluated against a single doublet.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Study of atrial function using echocardiographic automatic boundary detection following external or internal cardioversion for idiopathic atrial fibrillation.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of an echocardiographic method of automatic boundary detection (ABD) in the assessment of the degree of atrial dysfunction in patients who had undergone external or internal cardioversion for idiopathic atrial fibrillation. METHODS: The study population included 31 patients (mean age 48 +/- 6.5 years) with idiopathic atrial fibrillation. The patients were randomised into two groups: Group 1 (14 patients, 8 +/- 3.13 joules), where internal cardioversion was applied, and Group 2 (17 patients, 200-360 joules), where external cardioversion was used for restoration of sinus rhythm. During the following 24 hours the ABD method was used in both groups to assess the following functional indices for both the left and the right atrium: a) total fractional change of atrial area (delta1), b) passive change of atrial area (delta2), c) change of atrial area due to atrial contraction (delta3) and d) index of % atrial expansion (delta4). RESULTS: All patients in both groups were successfully cardioverted (100%, p: NS). Post-cardioversion indices delta1-delta4 for both left and right atria did not differ between the 2 groups (p:NS). A negative correlation was found between left atrial function as assessed by ABD and the mean energy in joules delivered through the catheter in each patient for successful cardioversion (r = -0.55 to r = -0.67 and p = 0.04 to p = 0.01). However, no relevant correlations were found for the right atrium (p:NS). CONCLUSIONS: 1) The atrial dysfunction which follows the cardioversion of idiopathic atrial fibrillation (atrial stunning) is not related to the type of cardioversion (internal or external). 2) The higher the amount of energy delivered during internal cardioversion, the greater the degree of left atrial dysfunction observed.

Atrial Fibrillation↗