[Clinical evaluation of cisplatin in children with malignant solid tumors. Pediatric Cisplatin Study Group]

A cooperative multicenter clinical study on cisplatin in children with malignant solid tumors was conducted in seventeen institutions. Of 63 children entered into the study, 18 patients were treated with cisplatin alone, 33 with a VCAP regimen (VCR, CPA, ADM and CDDP) and 12 with other combination regimens. The numbers of evaluable patients were 14, 27 and 7, respectively. Response rates for neuroblastoma were 37.5% (3/8) with cisplatin alone and 79.2% (19/24) for the VCAP regimen. Major adverse effects were gastrointestinal symptoms, bone marrow suppression and renal impairment. Hearing difficulty, electrolyte imbalance and transient elevation of transaminase were also observed. However, these adverse effects were within a tolerable range of severity. The results of this study demonstrate that cisplatin is a useful drug in the treatment of neuroblastoma.