There is no established chemotherapy for anaplastic thyroid cancer. We conducted a prospective feasibility study at a single center to explore the antitumor activity of docetaxel against anaplastic thyroid cancer. Docetaxel was administered intravenously at a dose of 60 mg/m(2) over the course of 1 h every 3 weeks in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer who had received no prior chemotherapy. A total of seven patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer were enrolled over the course of 30 months and received docetaxel. The treatment response was complete response in one patient, stable disease in two and progressive disease in four. The response rate was 14%, and the disease control rate (complete response plus stable disease) was 43%. The median time to progression was 6 weeks (range, 1-50). Toxicity was tolerable. Docetaxel could be an effective drug for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer, with tolerable toxicity.
For efficient transdermal delivery of alendronate (ALN) for anti-osteoporotic therapy, we developed a hyaluronic acid (HA) gel sheet that was prepared simply by enhancing HA noncovalent interactions using phosphoric acid and polyhydric alcohol (propanediol and glycerin). HA solution viscosity increased after addition of phosphoric acid, and the HA gel sheet formed after heated drying. The HA gel sheet could be converted to high viscosity state by addition of water. These results indicate that phosphoric acid enhances the noncovalent interactions of HA molecules. The HA gel sheet elicited no skin irritation over 7 days after a 24-h application. The permeation of ALN across rat and human skin was 109 and 7.17 µg/cm2, respectively, up to 24 h after application of the ALN-loaded HA gel sheet, which is sufficient for clinical treatment of osteoporosis. The bioavailability of ALN in rats was ~20% after application of the ALN-loaded HA gel sheet, and plasma calcium levels were effectively reduced 3 days after sheet application. Furthermore, in a rat osteoporosis model, the reduction in tibial bone density was suppressed by treatment with the ALN-loaded HA gel sheet. These results indicate that our phosphoric acid-mediated HA gel sheet is a promising transdermal formulation for efficient ALN delivery.
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