PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H Høst

Publications and source records attributed to H Høst.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Acute and subacute side effects due to infra-diaphragmatic radiotherapy for testicular cancer: a prospective study.

Acute/subacute side effects were evaluated in 39 testicular cancer patients before infra-diaphragmatic radiotherapy, twice during therapy and 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment discontinuation. The evaluation was primarily based on questionnaires filled in by the patients. At the end of radiotherapy nausea was reported by all responding patients, and 29 patients complained of diarrhea. Two-thirds of the patients reported abdominal pain and/or meteorism, and one-half complained of retching and/or vomiting. During therapy the median weight was significantly reduced by three kilos and the median value of the performance status decreased by 20%. The hematological and biochemical toxicity was low. At the 3-month evaluation more patients complained of nausea, abdominal pain, and meteorism than before irradiation. Compared to the pretreatment situation the patients evaluated their physical condition to be reduced during treatment and at the first follow-up visit. One year posttreatment the patients had regained their physical fitness. All patients in income-producing activity were on sick leave during the period of radiotherapy and for 5 weeks (median) thereafter. In conclusion, infra-diaphragmatic radiotherapy leads to significant but reversible acute/subacute side effects lasting for a median of 9 weeks. It is hoped that better symptomatic therapy and modifications of the radiotherapy technique will reduce the side effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Chemotherapy with or without high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate in oestrogen-receptor-negative advanced breast cancer. Norwegian Breast Cancer Group.

In a randomised study 142 patients with advanced oestrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer in the tumour tissue received chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy combined with high doses (1000 mg daily) of oral medroxyprogesterone acetate (HD-MPA). Of the 126 fully evaluable for response, the response rates were 46% for chemotherapy alone and 73% for chemotherapy with HD-MPA (P = 0.005). There was no significant difference with regard to duration of response. Of the 138 patients evaluable for survival and toxicity, survival was shorter in the combined treatment group; median survival of 9 versus 13 months (P less than 0.05). Considerable toxicity was seen from HD-MPA, especially weight gain and fluid retention. The present study provides evidence that in concordance with preclinical studies an interaction between chemotherapy and HD-MPA may exist in breast cancer normally resistant to hormone therapy. The side-effects from MPA were substantial, however, and the survival data are of great concern.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1992

Post-mastectomy megavoltage radiotherapy: the Oslo and Stockholm trials.

The ability of adjuvant radiotherapy to prevent distant metastasis and to prolong survival in patients with early breast cancer is much debated. The paper presents a joint analysis of long-term results (13-16 years' follow-up) from the Oslo and Stockholm randomised trials of post-operative megavoltage radiotherapy versus surgery alone. Among node-positive patients there was a significant 37% relative reduction of distant metastases with radiation (P less than 0.01) and an overall survival difference in favor of the irradiated patients which corresponded with a 22% relative reduction of deaths of borderline significance (P less than 0.06). No significant benefit with radiation in terms of distant metastasis-free survival or overall survival was observed among node-negative patients. The results show that effective local treatment can prevent distant dissemination in some patients and contradict the contention that node-positive breast cancer invariably is a systemic disease already at primary diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Symptomatic treatment versus combination chemotherapy for patients with extensive non-small cell lung cancer.

In a randomized clinical trial, 87 patients with inoperable, extensive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were randomized to receive either combination chemotherapy (cisplatin at 70 mg/m2 intravenously [i.v.] on day 1 and etoposide at 100 mg/m2 i.v. on day 1 and 200 mg/m2 orally on days 2 and 3) or symptomatic treatment. No statistically significant differences in survival time were found between the two treatment techniques. A major problem in the interpretation of the results was the use of semicurative radiation therapy (3000 to 4200 cGy) to the primary tumor and mediastinum, which was given with symptomatic intent. Three long-term survivors were seen in the latter group.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Phase I/II study of carboplatin and 5-fluorouracil in patients with advanced head and neck carcinoma.

59 patients with histological verified squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, 39 with primary disease and 20 with relapse were given carboplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in escalated carboplatin doses. The starting dose with carboplatin was 200 mg/m2 and the dose was escalated to 300 mg/m2, 350 mg/m2, 400 mg/m2 and thereafter by 20 mg/m2 per step. All patients received a dose of 1000 mg/m2 5-FU as a continuous infusion for 5 days. The myelotoxicity was moderate. No patients had grade 4 haemoglobin toxicity, while 7 patients had grade 3 toxicity. 2 patients had grade 4 leucocyte toxicity and 1 patient had grade 3. 4 patients were observed with a grade 4 platelet toxicity. 2 early deaths occurred at a dose level of 420 mg/m2. 18 out of 39 patients in primary treatment responded while 2 out of 20 patients treated for relapse responded. On the basis of the present study the maximum tolerable dose for carboplatin in combination with 5-FU 1000 mg/m2 is between 350 and 400 mg/m2.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Leukemia following chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

An international collaborative group of cancer registries and hospitals identified 114 cases of leukemia following ovarian cancer. We investigated the possible etiologic role of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other factors, using a case-control study design, with three controls matched to each case of leukemia. Chemotherapy alone was associated with a relative risk of 12 (95 percent confidence interval, 4.4 to 32), as compared with surgery alone, and patients treated with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy had a relative risk of 10 (95 percent confidence interval, 3.4 to 28). Radiotherapy alone did not produce a significant increase in risk as compared with surgery alone. The risk of leukemia was greatest four or five years after chemotherapy began, and the risk was elevated for at least eight years after the cessation of chemotherapy. The drugs cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, melphalan, thiotepa, and treosulfan were independently associated with significantly increased risks of leukemia, as was the combination of doxorubicin hydrochloride and cisplatin. Chlorambucil and melphalan were the most leukemogenic drugs, followed by thiotepa; cyclophosphamide and treosulfan were the weakest leukemogens, and the effect per gram was substantially lower at high doses than at lower doses. The extent to which the relative risks of leukemia are offset by differences in chemotherapeutic effectiveness is not known.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1990

Cyclical use of tamoxifen and high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate in advanced estrogen receptor positive breast cancer.

One-hundred and seventy patients with estrogen receptor positive (greater than or equal to 10 pmol/g protein) advanced breast cancer have been treated in a prospective randomized study either with continuous tamoxifen 30 mg x 1 daily (TAM), or with TAM 30 mg x 1 daily for 8 weeks alternating with medroxyprogesterone acetate 500 mg x 2 daily for 8 weeks (TAM/HD-MPA). The response rate was 62% in the group treated with cyclic TAM/HD-MPA versus 41% in the TAM alone group (p = 0.02). There was no significant difference in duration of remissions or survival.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1990

Weekly Adriamycin vs. 4-epidoxorubicin every second week in advanced breast cancer. A randomized trial. The Norwegian Breast Cancer Group.

One hundred and sixty-six patients with advanced breast cancer previously not treated with chemotherapy for metastatic disease were randomly allocated to 20 mg Adriamycin i.v. weekly (Awkly) as bolus injection or 50 mg 4-epidoxorubicin biweekly over a 3-h infusion time (EPIbiwkly). Of the 149 patients evaluable for response, the response rate was 36% for Awkly vs. 22% for EPIbiwkly (P = 0.10). There was no difference in response duration or survival. The main difference between the two regimens was in toxicity. Seventy per cent of Awkly patients virtually had no side-effects vs. 15% in the EPIbiwkly group. Significant differences in favour of Awkly were observed both for nausea/vomiting and alopecia.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1990

Alterations of blood analyses at relapse of osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma.

Alterations of blood analyses have been studied at relapse of patients with osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma. The tests included erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), haemoglobin (Hb), leukocyte and thrombocyte counts, gamma glutamyltransferase (GT), lactate dehydrogenase (LD) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Sixteen relapsing patients diagnosed from 1970 to 1987 were eligible in each sarcoma group. Median age was 16 years (range 9-30) at diagnosis. The blood tests seemed to be of no help in detecting relapse of osteosarcoma, while ESR, LD and GT rose significantly in relapsing patients with Ewing's sarcoma. ESR was best correlated to disease activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Benzylidene-glucose: no effect after all?

Several promising reports on the treatment of human cancer with various benzaldehyde derivatives have been published during the last decade. The present phase II study was performed to investigate whether the rather sensational results of one such derivative, benzylidene-D-glucose (BG), could be confirmed. The study included 14 patients with metastases from adenocarcinomas of the colon and rectum. The patients were treated with BG according to the recommended regimen for 8 weeks, after which tumor response was evaluated. Neither clinical tumor regression nor side effects were observed. The present study does not confirm the extremely good results previously reported by others. We conclude that BG is not an active agent in colorectal cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1989

Weekly anthracycline in the treatment of advanced breast cancer.

In two consecutive prospective and randomized studies, very similar response rates (31 and 36% respectively) were obtained for weekly 20 mg doses of doxorubicin among 143 patients with advanced breast cancer. The treatment was well tolerated and most patients had only moderate, if any, complaints about this treatment.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1989

Prolonged adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. The Scandinavian Adjuvant Chemotherapy Study 2.

Eleven hundred and sixteen primary female breast cancer patients received one short perioperative chemotherapy course. The node negative patients were randomised between immunotherapy (corynebacterium parvum s.c. around the scar 2 weeks after mastectomy), or no further adjuvant therapy. A moderate, but significant delaying effect was observed, without side effects. The node positive patients were randomised to four groups: 1) the same immunotherapy as in the node negative patients, 2) CMF for 1 year, 3) combination of these two treatments, or 4) no further adjuvant therapy. The prolonged chemotherapy had a significant positive effect, but also considerable and distressing side effects. The immunotherapy had a non-significant negative effect in the node positive patients, but without side effects.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1988

A randomized study evaluating radiotherapy versus chemotherapy in patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer.

A combination of cisplatin (70 mg/m2 i.v. day one) and etoposide (100 mg/m2 i.v. day one, 200 mg/m2 orally days 2 and 3) repeated every third week to a maximum of 4 cycles were compared with high voltage radiotherapy, 42 Gy given in 15 fractions over a 3-week period to patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (a shield was used in the posterior field to reduce the total spinal dose less than 40 Gy). One hundred and eighteen patients received radiotherapy; the median survival was 10.6 months compared to 10.5 months for the 116 chemotherapy patients (p = 0.81). The objective response rate (CR + PR) was 42% for the radiotherapy and 21% for the chemotherapy group (p = 0.009). At progression it was optional to cross over to the other treatment modality or to receive phase II chemotherapy. Thirty patients primarily treated with radiotherapy and 54 allocated to chemotherapy received second line antineoplastic treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Survival of breast cancer patients diagnosed during pregnancy or lactation.

This survival study includes 20 breast cancer patients diagnosed during pregnancy and 15 patients diagnosed during the lactation period. The survival rate of these patients is compared with that of ordinary breast cancer patients taking stage of the disease, age and calendar-year at diagnosis into account. The pregnancy group showed a significantly poorer prognosis compared with the control groups. Only 3 out of 20 survived more than 4 years. The tendency of a worse prognosis for the lactation group than for the control group was, however, not significant.

Adult↗