Between 1972 and 1982, 112 consecutive previously untreated adults (aged 15-69 years, median 26) commenced therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at St Bartholomew's Hospital. The first 63 patients entered into the study received initial treatment which comprised four cycles of adriamycin and vincristine, prednisolone and L-asparaginase with the first cycle (OPAL). In 1978, six cycles were given, with escalating doses of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide from cycle 3 (HEAV'D). Central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis incorporated intrathecal methotrexate and cytosine arabinoside with cranial irradiation. Maintenance chemotherapy consisted of 6-mercaptopurine, cyclophosphamide and methotrexate for 3 years. Results obtained with the OPAL and HEAV'D regimens were not significantly different. The overall complete remission (CR) rate was 66% (73/111), factors correlating unfavourably with achievement of CR being advanced age (P less than 0.001) and L3 morphology/B-ALL immunophenotype (P less than 0.01). Fifty-three patients have relapsed, the bone marrow being the primary site in 43. Extramedullary relapse alone occurred in 10 (seven CNS, two testicular and one skin). Only three of the 64 patients who had complete CNS prophylaxis subsequently relapsed in the CNS as an isolated site. One patient died in CR, 19 remain in continuous CR between 2.5 and 10.5 years. The median duration of remission of the 73 patients who achieved CR was 18.5 months, factors correlating favourably with duration of CR being low blast cell count at presentation (P less than 0.002) and common ALL immunophenotype (P less than 0.04). Twenty-four patients remain alive, with a median survival of all patients of 18 months. Long-term survival is possible for approximately 20% of adults with ALL treated relatively intensively.

Summary Distress associated with attendance at a radiotherapy department was assessed in 80 consecutive patients. All patients were interviewed within 24h of their first fraction of radiotherapy; 31 patients were also interviewed at the end of treatment. The problem identified at first interview as causing the most distress was worry about the effects of disease and its treatment upon the patient's family. At second interview the dominant complaint was of not being allowed to wash. Psychological problems, including anxiety and sleep disturbances, caused more overall distress than did physical symptoms. The method used in this study for eliciting information on the side-effects of therapy is straightforward and has yielded data that are provocative and suggest interesting avenues for futher investigation.For nearly 100 years radiotherapy has been used in the treatment of malignant disease. Somewhat surprisingly there are very few quantitative data on the distress and toxicity experienced by patients treated with radiation therapy. The few studies so far published have used restricted lists of possible symptoms and have made little attempt to assess the relative severity of various symptoms (King et al., 1985; Court Brown, 1953).Informed choice for patients is increasingly important in oncology. In order to inform patients usefully about the relative risks and benefits of radiotherapy we need to be able to give them accurate information on the nature and types of side-effects they are likely to experience. Qualitative information is insufficient for balanced judgement; quantitative information is also necessary.We wished to devise a method for obtaining quantitative information on the distress experienced by patients attending for radiotherapy. Our aim was to use a technique that was simple, reproducible, comprehensive and which did not require specially trained staff for its administration. The technique devised by Coates et al. (1983) for the assessment of side-effects experienced by patients undergoing chemotherapy seemed to fulfil many of the above criteria. We have therefore applied an adapted form of their technique to an unselected series of patients treated with radiotherapy. Patients and methodsEighty consecutive patients being treated with radiotherapy were the subjects of this study. The only exclusions were patients being treated with single fractions of radiotherapy or patients being treated for HIV related malignant disease. A total of 85 patients were eligible during this study period, no patient declined to be interviewed but five patients were not interviewed at the appropriate time and were therefore excluded. Details on patients and treatment are summarised in Tables I and II. Only 20 patients in this study had metastatic disease. The study was carried out according to a written protocol and informed consent was obtained from all patients.The method used to obtain information from patients was adapted from that used from Coates et al. (1983) was written (for full list see Appendix). The list of...

Since 1978, 187 patients (age range, 15 to 59, median 44 years) have received short-term chemotherapy as part of three sequential open studies (B-IX, X, Xb) or a randomized clinical trial (B-XI). An intended six cycles of Adriamycin (ADR) (doxorubicin; Adria Laboratories, Columbus, OH), cytarabine (ara-C), and thioguanine (TG) were administered with as short an intercycle time as possible. No further therapy was administered. Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 118 of 187 patients (63%). On univariate and multivariate analyses achievement of CR correlated adversely with a low serum albumin at presentation and an antecedent marrow disorder. Forty-five patients continue in first remission between 15 months and 8 1/2 years, no relapses being seen after 3 1/2 years (median follow-up, 3 1/2 years). The median duration of remission was 1 year. M3 morphology, a blast count less than 100 x 10(9)/L, and absence of hepatosplenomegaly correlated favorably with remission duration. There was no difference in duration of remission between patients receiving 3, 4, 5, or 6 cycles. The best results overall were achieved in patients under the age of 40, with 43% projected to remain free of disease at 5 years. Fifty patients remain alive between 17 months and 9 years, the predicted actuarial survival being 25% at 5 years.

There has been increasing interest in the role of chemotherapy as primary treatments for patients with urothelial cancer and because of the poor prognosis of locally advanced tumours with conventional treatment, trials have been initiated comparing radiotherapy with chemotherapy as primary therapies. In this context it is important to assess the relationship between the responses to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and this we have examined in 64 patients treated with MVMJ (methotrexate, vinblastine, mitozantrone and carboplatin). Either a complete or a partial response was found in 29 of the 64 patients, 15 had stable disease and 13 had progression of disease. Seven patients died within the first treatment month. The survival of the responding patients ranged from 114 to 1184 days. Six of 15 patients who had had pelvic irradiation prior to chemotherapy responded to MVMJ, the maximum duration of response being more than 3 years. Twenty-two patients had radiotherapy following their chemotherapy. One of 13 patients not responding to MVMJ had a transient response to radical radiotherapy. Only 1 of 9 patients responding to chemotherapy and then relapsing responded to subsequent radical radiotherapy. Patients with metastatic disease or with recurrent disease after radiotherapy have a worthwhile chance of responding to chemotherapy and achieve durable remissions. In contrast, radiotherapy appears relatively ineffective in patients whose disease progresses or relapses after chemotherapy given as primary treatment with curative intent.