Umezu K

Clinical trial of attenuated vaccinia virus AS strain in the treatment of advanced adenocarcinoma

SummaryTwo cases of advanced adenocarcinoma treated with attenuated vaccinia virus AS strain are reported. One was a primary lung adenocarcinoma with metastatic lesions in brain, right kidney, and rib. The other was a left renal adenocarinoma with multiple lung and vertebral metastases. In both patients, good antitumor effects against lung and bone lesions were obtained, respectively, and no adverse reactions were noted. Therefore, treatemtn of patients with AS vaccinia virus appears to suppress the growth of tumor cells without adverse effects on normal human cells. This is the first report to describe the effects of attenuated vaccinia virus AS strain on human cancer.

New Preoperative Chemotherapy for Bladder Cancer Using Combination Hemodialysis and Direct Hemoperfusion: Preliminary Report

Preoperative chemotherapy and subsequent cystectomy were performed on 11 patients with locally invasive bladder cancer. Three chemotherapy regimens were tested: 1) 2 to 3 mg. per kg. doxorubicin in 5 patients, 2) 1 mg. per kg. mitomycin C in 3 and 3) 0.6 mg. per kg. mitomycin C with 70 mg. systemic bleomycin in 3. Doxorubicin and mitomycin C were infused once preoperatively into the hypogastric arteries or the aortic bifurcation, with simultaneous hemodialysis and direct hemoperfusion to remove as much extra-regional infusate as possible and, thus, reduce the systemic toxicity of the drug. Objective responses were obtained in 4 of 7 patients with measurable tumor (57 per cent). Downstaging was obtained in 7 of 11 patients (64 per cent). All patients given doxorubicin had leukocytopenia (500 to 1,900 per mm.3) and moderate patchy alopecia, and 1 patient given mitomycin C and bleomycin had thrombocytopenia (44,000 per mm.3). However, these side effects were observed comparatively less in the patients given mitomycin C only.