[Chemotherapy in primary and metastatic intrathoracic cancer]

Chemotherapy has procured results which are still modest surely valid in the treatment of inoperable primary bronchial cancer: - prolongation of the mean survival time from 3 1/2 months for the nontreated cases to 8 1/2 months for those patients treated with complex combinations; - more than 15% of very good results with return to normal professional activity for 6 to 18 months; - approximately 30% of considerable subjective improvement with a definite sense of "well being"; - considerable reduction in the use of pain-killers. These results amply justify the pursuit of research. 2) The results for the combination hormone-chemotherapy, in the case of thoracic metastases of breast cancer, are definitely better. After leukemia in children, and Hodgking and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, metastases from breast cancer constitute a third group of chemosensitive tumors: - for 64 cases, the percentage of complete or partial remission is 84.3%; - there were 34 complete remissions: mean survival 27 months, at present 11 patients still remain alive: 1 to 16, 1 to 17, 2 to 19, 1 to 23, 31, 35, 38, 43, 68 and 70 months; - 20 partial remissions, mean survival 10 1/2 months, one patient still alive; - 10 failures, mean survival 6 months; - mean duration of complete remission 18 months; - mean duration of partial remission 6 months.