Bexarotene can be safely added to platinum-based chemotherapy provided that there is aggressive prophylaxis of hypertriglyceridemia. The median time to progression and overall survival are promising and warrant further evaluation of bexarotene in advanced NSCLC.
One hundred twenty-five granulocyte transfusions were given concurrently with amphotericin B to 31 granulocytopenic patients with acute leukemia during a four year period. Twenty-six patients had culture-documented, and 5 had presumed fungal infections; pulmonary infiltrates were present in 26 patient courses. Eight patients developed pulmonary deterioration temporally related to therapy with amphotericin, granulocyte transfusions, or both. One event occurred following amphotericin alone. Three additional reactions occurred in alloimmunized patients with antibodies to human leukocyte antigens (HLA) who received random donor granulocytes, which may indicate a potential mechanism for the pulmonary reactions. Two reactions potentially represent an adverse interaction between amphotericin and granulocytes, but these were reversible and were not unlike reactions expected with each modality alone. Our data fail to document a specific detrimental interaction between granulocyte transfusions and amphotericin beyond the reactions associated with each modality, and the data suggest that other clinical factors, particularly infection and alloimmunization, also contribute to pulmonary decompensation. We nevertheless recommend great care and attention be given to administering these modalities in the setting of severely ill patients.
To evaluate the incidence of thrombocytopenia and bleeding among patients with solid tumors treated intensively with chemotherapy, the records of 1274 patients treated between 1972 and 1980 on protocols known to produce significant myelosuppression were reviewed. Three hundred one patients with solid tumors (breast, lung, melanoma, sarcoma, primary brain, testicular, hypernephroma and others) experienced 5063 days of thrombocytopenia (platelet count < 50,000/ μl) and 670 days of severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count < 20,000/μl). The median number of days thrombocytopenia was 6 (range, 1 ‐250). There were only 44 episodes of clinically detectable serious bleeding, primarily gastrointestinal (26/44), during thrombocytopenia and all but seven episodes first occurred at platelet counts between 20,000‐50,000/ μl. Fifteen of the 44 bleeding episodes were associated with coagulation abnormalities, 24 occurred during serious infection, and 12 occurred at sites of tumors. One hundred forty‐seven of the 301 patients (49%) received platelet transfusions. In 86 thrombocytopenic patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors, there was no evidence of CNS bleeding during thrombocytopenia. Hemorrhagic deaths were uncommon, and of the 12 patients who died of bleeding, 7 had normal counts. There is a very low incidence of significant thrombocytopenia or bleeding among patients with solid tumors treated with combination chemotherapy or experimental agents escalated to maximally tolerated doses. These data suggest that with respect to thrombocytopenic bleeding intensive treatment of patients with solid tumors can be pursued with relative safety utilizing the standard transfusion supportive measures now widely available.
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