Related Experiment Videos
Escalating dose of continuous infusion combination chemotherapy for refractory neuroblastoma
L A Campbell1, R C Seeger, R E Harris
1Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco.
Purpose:
This trial was undertaken to determine if a continuous infusion format with increased dose-intensity had antitumor activity with tolerable toxicity in patients with advanced neuroblastoma.
Patients And Methods:
Forty heavily pretreated patients with refractory or progressive neuroblastoma received continuous infusion doxorubicin, cisplatin, and etoposide along with bolus ifosfamide in a dose-escalation format. A total of 79 courses of chemotherapy were administered at five different dose levels.
Results:
Fifteen of 35 assessable patients (43%) achieved either a partial response (PR) or complete response (CR), including five patients with a CR, three with a very good PR (VGPR), and seven with a PR. Hematologic toxicity was severe, but reversible, and other toxicities, although significant, were tolerable and much less than that accepted in a bone marrow transplantation (BMT) setting.
Conclusion:
This investigation illustrates that response is possible even in an extremely poor-prognosis group of patients, and it suggests that such a regimen may be effective if given before disease progression occurs.