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Biomedical subjects

W C Mertens

Publications and source records attributed to W C Mertens.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Soft tissue sarcoma in adults.

Over the past year, improved delineation of prognostic factors and other aspects of staging of localized sarcomas have been reported. Although little progress has been made in terms of improvement in adjuvant therapy, new efforts to enhance therapy for advanced disease, particularly through use of dose-intensive chemotherapy regimens with colony-stimulating factor support, have resulted in improved response rates and may herald the development of new chemotherapy regimens, which may be employed in future randomized studies in the early disease setting.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Radionuclide therapy of bone metastases: prospects for enhancement of therapeutic efficacy.

Systemically administered, beta-emitting radionuclides provide effective pain relief for many patients with symptomatic osseous metastases. Unfortunately, substantial numbers of patients achieve incomplete pain resolution, and some patients obtain no pain relief at all. In addition, there is little evidence that therapy with these radioisotopes results in improved overall survival, and relatively few patients exhibit evidence of significant antitumor activity. Strategies must be developed to enhance the effectiveness of this form of therapy. The possibilities of improved efficacy through the use of increased radionuclide dose, as well as radionuclide therapy in combination with colony-stimulating factors, radiosensitizing chemotherapy, bisphosphonates, and wide-field irradiation, will be explored, and the current literature as well as future plans will be reviewed. Many of these strategies hold promise for enhancing the palliative and anticancer effects of this form of therapy.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed1993

Adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma.

Standard therapy for treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma dictates adequate surgical resection with or without radiation therapy. However, metastases occur in a substantial proportion of cases, and, if improvement in survival is to be obtained, elimination of hematogenously borne micrometastasis will be required. A number of randomized, controlled clinical trials have been performed evaluating the use of cytotoxic chemotherapy in the treatment of localized soft-tissue sarcoma. Single-arm studies evaluating the use of intraarterial chemotherapy as an adjunct to limb-sparing surgery have been reported. Many of these studies have methodologic weaknesses, and have yielded conflicting results. Reviewed in detail, these studies are evaluated in the light of opportunities for clinical research.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1992

Effect of indomethacin plus ranitidine in advanced melanoma patients on high-dose interleukin-2.

Preclinical models of advanced melanoma have shown that chronic indomethacin therapy combined with interleukin 2 (IL-2) can eradicate experimental metastases. A phase II trial was done in patients with advanced melanoma. Indomethacin and ranitidine were begun at least one week before IL-2. Of the objective responses in 3 patients, 2 were achieved on ranitidine and indomethacin alone, before start of IL-2. Indomethacin and ranitidine may be responsible for some responses in melanoma patients previously attributed to IL-2.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1992

Strontium-89 and low-dose infusion cisplatin for patients with hormone refractory prostate carcinoma metastatic to bone: a preliminary report.

Strontium-89 has been used for the treatment of painful bony metastases in patients suffering from disseminated adenocarcinoma of the prostate, with a variable proportion of patients obtaining clinically significant reductions in analgesic requirements. Based on data revealing enhancement of continuous low-dose rate irradiation by low-dose cisplatin in murine models, a protocol using 148 MBq (4 mCi) of 89Sr and 35 mg/m2 of cisplatin infused over 2 days, 1 and 4 wk after administration of the radioisotope was undertaken. Preliminary data suggest good pain relief with 55% of 18 patients entered thus far obtaining at least a 50% reduction in analgesic requirements. Improvements in total alkaline phosphatase and serum lactate dehydrogenase have consistently been seen, with some patients exhibiting improvements in hemoglobin, tumor markers and bone scans. Toxicity appears to be mild, with no life-threatening complications. In particular, myelosuppression after one course of treatment was modest, but retreatments in two patients has resulted in grade 3 hematologic toxicity. Two patients developed a "pain flare" after administration of cisplatin. Further accrual to this study will allow more accurate determination of pain response rate, and improved evaluation of parameters of objective response.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1985

Differential aspects of sleep epilepsy.

A review of patients with epilepsy showed that 5.9% had seizures exclusively in sleep (ES) and 4.7% had seizures predominantly but not exclusively in sleep (PS). These groups were compared with a group (W) with seizures mainly in wakefulness. The following significant differences were obtained: 1) generalized convulsions predominated in the ES while partial seizures were more common among PS and W patients, 2) seizures occurred less frequently in the ES group, and 3) more W patients had EEGs with generalized epileptiform activity and positive family histories for epilepsy. We suggest the lower frequency of seizures in the ES group and the declining prevalence of sleep epilepsy are due to: 1) the high proportion of generalized as opposed to partial seizures in sleep and 2) more effective control of generalized seizures compared to partial seizures by modern anti-epileptic drug management.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Systemic bone-seeking radionuclides for palliation of painful osseous metastases: current concepts.

Bone metastases require multidisciplinary treatment, the primary goal of which is to relieve pain and improve quality of life. Among the options available, bone-seeking radioisotopes are attractive because they can treat several symptomatic metastases simultaneously. This therapy may have antitumor efficacy in addition to analgesic properties. Although the ultimate place of systemic radionuclides in the treatment of bone metastases has not been firmly established, some patients clearly benefit from these modalities.

Analgesics↗