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S O Kvaløy

Publications and source records attributed to S O Kvaløy.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Treatment of Burkitt's/Burkitt-like lymphoma in adolescents and adults: a 20-year experience from the Norwegian Radium Hospital with the use of three successive regimens.

BACKGROUND: Burkitt's/Burkitt-like lymphoma (BL/BLL) are highly aggressive lymphomas mainly affecting children and young adults. We report the results in adolescent and adult patients with the use of three successive regimens. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-nine patients aged 15-70 years admitted to the Norwegian Radium Hospital in the period 1982-2001 with a diagnosis of BL/BLL on histological review and who were given chemotherapy with curative intent are included in this analysis. Up to 1987 patients were given doxorubicin-based chemotherapy supplemented with intravenous and intrathecal methotrexate (MmCHOP). From 1987 to 1994, patients who obtained complete remission upon this regimen were consolidated with high-dose therapy with stem-cell support (MmCHOP + HDT). In 1995 we introduced as frontline therapy the German Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (BFM) regimen. RESULTS: By intention to treat analyses, the progression-free survival rates for patients who received MmCHOP (n=13), MmCHOP + HDT (n=17) or BFM therapy (n=19) are 30.8%, 70.6% and 73.7%, respectively. In the groups of patients who received either the BFM regimen or MmCHOP + HDT, all patients who obtained complete remission upon induction therapy are continuously disease free. There was no treatment-related death. CONCLUSIONS: BL/BLL in adolescents and adults can successfully be treated with 5-day blocks of intensified chemotherapy such as the BFM regimen or CHOP/methotrexate-based chemotherapy consolidated with high-dose therapy. Using the BFM regimen, continuous remissions are obtained without additional myeloablative chemotherapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The course of anxiety and depression during the first year after allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplantation.

Psychological distress is frequently reported in transplant survivors. We prospectively assessed anxiety and depression before transplant, in the isolation period and during a follow-up period of 1 year. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was administered to 131 cancer patients treated with high-dose chemotherapy followed by allogeneic (SCT) or autologous (ASCT) stem cell transplantation, and a concurrent group of 123 lymphoma patients receiving standard chemotherapy (CT) who served as a reference group. Relatively low levels of anxiety and depression were found. The level of anxiety slightly declined from baseline during follow-up (mean scores SCT: from 5.3 to 3.6, CT: from 6.0 to 4.2) or remained fairly stable (ASCT: from 5.4 to 4.8). The level of depression peaked when the transplant patients were in protective isolation or shortly thereafter (SCT: 6.1, ASCT: 6.4), but stabilized at baseline levels after 4 months. The highest level of depression in the CT group was reported 4 months after start of chemotherapy (3.4). Elevated levels of anxiety and depression at baseline predicted more anxiety and depression at the later assessments (P values < 0.0001). The ASCT group had higher levels of anxiety after 1 year (mean 4.8) than those found in the other two groups (SCT: 3.6, CT: 4.2), although they were not statistically significant. This study revealed lower than expected levels of anxiety and depression after intensive chemotherapy followed by SCT or ASCT. There was a decline in psychological distress during the 1-year follow-up period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Health-related quality of life 1 year after allogeneic or autologous stem-cell transplantation: a prospective study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adults treated with high-dose chemotherapy followed by allogeneic (SCT) and autologous (ASCT) stem-cell transplantation 1 year after transplantation, using data from concurrent lymphoma patients receiving combination chemotherapy (CT) as a reference. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one leukemia patients (SCT group), 51 lymphoma patients (ASCT group), and 85 CT patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 questionnaire at baseline and after 1 year. RESULTS: The SCT group (median age, 36 years) had better functioning scores and less symptomatology at baseline compared with the ASCT (median age, 41 years) and CT (median age, 37 years) groups. Statistically significant differences of 10 or more points on the 0 to 100 scales were found for 10 of 15 scales and items (P< or =.01) between the SCT and ASCT groups. Global quality of life (79 v 58, P<.0001), role function (83 v 65, P = .001), sleep disturbances (6 v 28, P<.0001), and fatigue (25 v 44, P = .0001) deviated most. The differences were 10 or more points for seven of 15 scales and items comparing the SCT and CT groups, with sleep disturbances (6 v 35, P<.0001) and pain (11 v 29, P<.01) deviating most. Differences across groups were smaller after 1 year; cognitive function was the only scale with a statistically significant difference (ASCT 80 v CT 89; P = .002). Patterns of change in HRQOL scores were different between groups during follow-up. A great improvement was found in the ASCT group (P<.01 for emotional and role function, fatigue, appetite, and constipation), whereas no significant changes were observed for the SCT group. CONCLUSION: Prospective studies with extended follow-up periods are necessary to separate a slow recovery process from more permanently reduced HRQOL after transplantation and to examine the late side effects from previous treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[High dose therapy with autologous stem cell support in malignant disorders. Excerpt from the statement by the advisory group of the State Health Services].

New biomedical knowledge may improve the diagnostic procedures and treatment provided by the Health Services, but at additional cost. In a social democratic health care system, the hospital budgets have no room for expensive, new procedures or treatments, unless these are funded through extra allocation from the central authorities. High dose therapy with autologous stem cell support in malignant disorders is an example of a new and promising, but rather expensive treatment, but its role in cancer therapy has yet to be established. The indications for testing high dose therapy with autologous stem cell support in various malignancies are discussed, with emphasis on the principles for deciding which categories of disease should have priority. The authors suggest some malignant disorders for which high dose therapy with stem cell support should be explored versus conventional treatment in randomised prospective trials.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1993

[Hodgkin's disease or lymphogranulomatosis. New views on prognosis, complicating conditions and complications after treatment].

Between the years 1968-85, 1,177 patients started treatment for Hodgkins disease at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. In this unselected material from Norway the age distribution was bimodal with the highest incidence between 20-40 years of age. Survival is dependent on age, stage and histology, and was better between the years 1980-85 as compared with the period 1974-79. During the last ten years, treatment has been decentralized in Norway, and all centres cooperate by using the same protocol for staging and treatment. The article summarizes the results of the treatment, and related complications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[New cancer disease after treatment of Hodgkin's disease].

The risk of a second cancer was assessed in 1,152 patients with Hodgkins disease who were treated at the Norwegian Radium Hospital from 1968-85. 68 patients developed a second cancer more than one year after the diagnosis of Hodgkins disease. These included nine acute non-lymphocytic leukemias, eight non-Hodgkins lymphomas and 51 solid tumours, including 11 lung cancers. The overall relative risk (observed/expected ratios) of developing a second cancer was 1.86. After 18 years the cumulative risk of developing a second cancer was 14.4% +/- 2.9%, of which 11.2% +/- 2.6% referred to solid tumours. The cumulative risk of leukemia appeared to reach a plateau level of 1.5% after 12 years while the risk of non-Hodgkins lymphomas and lung cancer continued to rise with time to 2.1% and 3.3% respectively after 18 years. The risk of developing leukemia increased after treatment with alkylating agents and Procarbazine. The risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma was not related to any specific type of therapy. Excess lung cancer risk was noted in patients treated with radiotherapy, and the cancers appeared within the treated areas.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Infection problems in the leukopenia phase after autologous bone marrow transplantation].

Between 1986 and 1991, 29 patients with malignant lymphomas were treated with total body irradiation and high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. Owing to treatment-induced bone marrow toxicity, the leucocyte count in peripheral blood rapidly fell to zero. The aplastic phase lasted for 25 days (median). All patients experienced fever in the posttransplant period and needed broad-spectrum antibiotics. 12 patients had documented bacteremia, mostly with Gram-positive isolates. There were seven cases of documented focal infections, and antibiotic-associated colitis was seen in two cases. Other complications included bleedings and skin rashes. Four patients died in the post-transplant period from complications related to the cytotoxic treatment. We discuss guidelines for antimicrobial treatment of suspected and confirmed infections in neutropenic patients.

Adolescent↗