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Biomedical subjects

H Juergens

Publications and source records attributed to H Juergens.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The inability of oral leucovorin to elevate CSF 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate following high dose intravenous methotrexate therapy.

Osteosarcoma patients free of CNS metastases are at risk for acquiring leukoencephalopathy after receiving multiple courses of high dose intravenous methotrexate followed by oral leucovorin rescue (MTX-LV). A prospective study of the adequacy of CNS rescue of MTX biochemical toxicity by oral leucovorin was undertaken in newly diagnosed neurologically normal osteosarcoma patients. Prior to surgical resection of the primary tumor, ten patients received 4 weekly courses of MTX-LV. During the fourth weekly MTX-LV treatment, 0 and 72 hr serum and CSF determinations of MTX, 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) and LV were made. No CSF MTX was detectable at 0 hr in any patient, but a significant elevation in CSF MTX occurred in 9/9 patients at 72 hr (mean 47.2 +/- 31.8 ng/ml or 1.04 +/- 0.7 X 10(-7) M). There was no significant change in mean CSF 5-MTHF over 72 hr despite a rise in serum 5-MTHF. MTX exceeded 5-MTHF in 6/9 patients in CSF, whereas only 3/8 patients had higher MTX in the serum at 72 hr. No acute systemic or neurotoxicity was seen. The failure of oral leucovorin to consistently elevate CSF 5-MTHF levels at 72 hr in the context of significant levels of CSF MTX may result in intermittent CNS folate deficiency. The clinical and pathological syndrome of leukoencephalopathy may be related to this phenomenon and may evolve after repeated MTX-LV treatments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Osteogenic sarcoma: eight-percent, three-year, disease-free survival with combination chemotherapy (T-7).

Sixty-one patients were treated with combination chemotherapy (T-7) for biopsy-proved, fully malignant, osteogenic sarcoma (OS) of the extremity. Chemotherapy consisted of the combination of bleomycin, cyclophosphamide, and dactinomycin, followed in 2 weeks by vincristine and high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) given in doses of 8 g/m2 for adolescents and 12 g/m2 for children 12 years old or younger with citrovorum factor rescue. The HDMTX was administered weekly for 4 weeks. One week following the 4 HDMTX treatments, adriamycin (ADR) was given at a dose of 90 mg/m2 for 2 days. Two weeks after the ADR, 2 additional doses of HDMTX were given before surgery. Thirty-eight of the 61 patients were referred before amputation and underwent preoperative chemotherapy for approximately 3 months. After surgery, chemotherapy was resumed. Of the 61 consecutive patients with primary OS entered in the T-7 protocol, 54 (88%) remained free of disease for more than 8 to over 35 months (median 18+ mo), with a projected 3-year disease-free survival in excess of 80%. Of the 38 receiving T-7 chemotherapy before surgery, 28 demonstrated a near complete or complete lack of viable tumor cells on examination of the resected primary tumors. All 28 are surviving free of disease. Nine of the 10 patients less than 12 years of age remain free of disease from over 12 to more than 35 months (median 24+ mo). A significant increase in disease-free survival in the younger patients could presumably be attributed to the use of 12 g HDMTX/m2 in that age group. The prognostic value of the effect of preoperative chemotherapy on the primary tumor is statistically highly significant. These data indicated that preoperative chemotherapy with the proper dose of HDMTX would be valuable in all patients with OS.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1981

Prognostic factors in the response of primary osteogenic sarcoma to preoperative chemotherapy (high-dose methotrexate with citrovorum factor).

Forty-three patients, ranging in age from 7 to 30 years (median age, 17 yr), with primary osteogenic sarcoma (OS), confirmed by biopsies and with no evidence of metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, received T-7 chemotherapy for an average of 4 months before surgery, including high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) and citrovorum factor rescue (CFR) (median, 7 courses), and 1 course each of bleomycin, cyclophosphamide, and dactinomycin, and adriamycin. At the time of definitive surgery, the surgical specimen showed a good histologic response to chemotherapy (grade III or IV response) in 29 (67%) of 43 patients and a poor histologic response (grade I or II response) in 14 (33%) of 43 patients. Among those who responded well, no patient relapsed, as all received a complete course of preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy for more than 5 to over 28 months after the initiation of treatment (medium, 13 mo). Among those who responded poorly, 6 of 14 patients relapsed with pulmonary metastases (a thoracotomy was beneficial to 1), 4 of 6 patients are alive with disease, and 1 patient died of progressive disease. On retrospective analysis, we observed that good and poor responders did not differ in the distribution of sex, age, race, primary site of disease, or histologic subtype of OS. An elevated alkaline phosphatase level that returned to normal under preoperative chemotherapy indicated a good response. Neither the 24-, 48-, and 72-hour serum MTX levels nor the fluid intake and urinary output during 3 days that followed HDMTX with CFR correlated significantly with tumor response. Based on our studies with this form of therapy, we concluded that the response of OS to preoperative chemotherapy is of prognostic value.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Combination chemotherapy (T-6) in the multidisciplinary treatment of Ewing's sarcoma.

Twenty-eight patients with primary Ewing's sarcoma (ES) and 10 with primary and metastatic ES were treated with intensive induction (T-6) and maintenance sequential chemotherapy (T-2). Local treatment for the primary tumor was surgery and/or radiation therapy (RT), and the choice depended on the patient's age and the location and size of the tumor. Patients with pulmonary metastases received bilateral pulmonary RT with 1,400 rad before T-2 maintenance chemotherapy. Most patients who were given T-65 induction chemotherapy before local therapy had healing of pathologically destroyed, tumor-bearing bones before the initiation of RT. None who had RT after T-6 chemotherapy developed pathologic fractures. Of the 28 with primary ES, 23 (82%) remained free of disease for more than 12 to over 46 months (median 22+ mo). Six of 10 with primary and metastatic disease are free of disease from more than 14 to over 34 months (median, 22+ mo). In addition to producing higher survival rates in the patients with poor prognoses, T-6 chemotherapy also improved the treatment of the primary tumor and achieved better function and, it is hoped, a lower local recurrence rate following RT. We found that the timing of T-6 chemotherapy and RT was crucial to obtaining a maximal response of the primary tumor and to maintaining patient tolerance for this aggressive treatment. The long rest required after patients were given 1,3-bis (2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea makes its use in future protocols undesirable.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Traditional and emerging molecular markers in neuroblastoma prognosis: the good, the bad and the ugly.

BACKGROUND: Neuroblastomas (NB) are a heterogeneous group of childhood tumours with a wide range of likelihood for tumour progression. As traditional parameters do not ensure completely accurate prognostic grouping, new molecular markers are needed for assessing the individual patient's prognosis more precisely. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 133 NB of all stages were analysed in blind-trial fashion for telomerase activity (TA), expression of surviving, and MYCN status. These data were correlated with other traditional prognostic indicators and disease outcome. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: TA is a powerful independent prognostic marker for all stages and is capable of differentiating between good and poor outcome in putative "favourable" clinical or biological subgroups of NB patients. High surviving expression is associated with an adverse outcome, but is more difficult to interprete than TA because survivin expression needs to be accurately quantified to be of predictive value. We propose an extended progression model for NB including emerging prognostic markers, with emphasis on telomerase activity.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗