Chemotherapy minimizing side effects

This pediatric cancer stands as an example of how cooperative group studies (NWTS and SIOP) have been able to integrate both chemotherapy and radiation into standard therapy while minimizing side-effects and dramatically improving cure rates as seen in the improvement of the 5-yr relative survival rates from 74% in 1974-1976 to 93% in 1989-1996 (60). The fifth NWTS trial began in 1995 and is expected to continue until 2003 (see Table 5) (60). This study will search for biological prognostic factors and examine the rates of cancer and birth defects in children born to survivors of Wilms tumor. 

Chemotherapy is the standard treatment for many cancers. However, the full potential of many anticancer drugs cannot be exploited due to their severe side effects. A delivery system that is selective for tumors might potentiate the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs and minimize side effects. 

With intravenous administration, conventional low-molecular-weight anticancer drugs are distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream and affect both malignant and normal cells. The goal of chemotherapy is to concentrate a drug to the target site as much as possible and to minimize side effects. 

Initial phase I and II trials with trastuzumab were done in patients with metastatic breast cancer with documented HER-2 overexpression as measured by immunohis-tochemistry. The first phase Ell study reported by Baselga et al. (22) enrolled patients heavily pretreated with chemotherapy and demonstrated an objective response rate of 11%. Side effects were minimal and consisted of occasional fever and chills acutely... 

The bleomycins are fermentation products of Streptococcus verticillus. The drug currently employed clinically is a mixture of bleomycin Aj and B. The bleomycins differ only in their terminal amino acid, which can be altered by the amino acids added to the fermentation medium. Bleomycins have significant antitumor activity against squamous carcinoma of the cervix, and against lymphomas and testicular tumors. They are minimally myelo- and immunosuppressive but cause unusual cutaneous side effects and pulmonary fibrosis. Because their toxicities do not overlap with those of other drugs, and because of their unique mechanism of action, bleomycins maintain an important role in combination chemotherapy. 

The use of electric fields (EF) in tissues triggers complex electrochemical processes, thus constituting a paradigmatic example of biomedical applications of electrochemistry. In recent years, EF-based cancer treatments proved to be an effective therapy for certain types of tumors. Although having less undesired effects than traditional cancer therapies like radio- or chemotherapy, EF therapies still have some side effects that it is necessary to minimize. The first part of this entry presents a summary of EF solid tumor therapies that have reached clinical practice. The second part describes some examples of... 

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