Useful Drugs in the Treatment of Cancer

Zubrod, C. Gordon

doi:10.1001/archinte.1960.03820050075014

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Another factor that increased the stakes was the scarcity of candidate drugs. The CCNSC screened hundreds of thousands of compounds in animals and tissue cultures, but over 90% were rejected at as they proved to be either too toxic or ineffective (CCR 1, 1959;CCNSC Advisory Council Meeting Minutes, 1955, 1956Zubrod, 1960Zubrod, , 1984Zubrod et al, 1977). Only a handful of compounds showed acceptable 'therapeutic ratios' (i.e.…”

Section: What Is An Anticancer Drug?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Adequate trials: How the search for a cure shaped leukemia diagnosis

Levy

2022

Soc Stud Sci

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This article examines the relationship between diagnosis and therapy, focusing on the case of leukemia and cancer chemotherapy in the 1960s. This case, I argue, reinforces the need to study diagnoses from a social-science perspective, because the persistent controversy around leukemia classification was resolved by institutional restructuring introduced through clinical experimentation, rather than by techno-scientific advances. In an attempt to prove that chemical cancer therapy was possible, oncologists replaced the question ‘Is this drug working?’ with the question ‘How can we make this drug work?’ To create the conditions and criteria under which drugs could work, oncologists undertook the reclassification of cancers and patients, producing a new diagnostic style that reversed the roles of diagnosis and therapy. Experts gained and secured the power to classify not by solving existing problems, but by redefining what counts as a problem and what qualifies as a solution. Similarly, therapies can become transformative not only when they ‘work’, but when they work just well enough to mobilize resources and support. Theorizing these displacements, I develop the concept of ‘adequate trials’ in order to capture modes of innovation in which a deep commitment to give new technologies a ‘fair chance’ to succeed (i.e. an ‘adequate trial’) leads experts to redefine the tasks and goals of their field. To further our theoretical understanding of how rigid drug testing becomes malleable and conducive to normative change, I analyze the organizational, scientific, and jurisdictional conditions that gave rise to oncologists’ practical orientations.

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Section: What Is An Anticancer Drug?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Adequate trials: How the search for a cure shaped leukemia diagnosis

Levy

2022

Soc Stud Sci

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“…The antitumor effect of actinomycin D on animal [9,10,14,40,47] and human tumors [15,27,31,41,48,49] has been studied by many investigators and this agent is effective in treating two childhood neoplasms, Wilms' tumor [15,27,31,32,41,49,59] and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma [31, 41,59]. 1 Daunomycin, a glycoside antibiotic, was isolated from cultures of Streptomyces peucetius [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetic Evaluation of the Effect of Actinomycin D, Daunomycin, and Mitomycin C on Proliferating Cultured Leukemia L1210 Cells

Wilkoff¹,

Lloyd²,

Dulmadge³

1971

Chemotherapy

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Proliferating cultured leukemia L1210 cells exposed to cytotoxic concentrations of actinomycin D, daunomycin, or mitomycin C are killed at a rate which is relatively dependent upon the concentrations used. On an equimolar basis, proliferating L1210 cells are equally sensitive to actinomycin D or daunomycin and are the least sensitive to mitomycin C. Nonproliferating L1210 cells are sensitive to these agents in vitro. The nonproliferating cells are the most sensitive to actinomycin D, less sensitive to daunomycin, and the least sensitive to mitomycin C. A comparison of the sensitivity of proliferating and nonproliferating L1210 cells to these agents indicate that proliferating cells are more sensitive than nonproliferating cells. The results of this study indicate that actinomycin D, daunomycin, and mitomycin C are neither cell-cycle-specific nor cell-cycle-stage-specific agents. This implies (a) that these drugs may be potentially effective in treating malignancies with low growth fractions and (b) that effective therapy with these agents may be enhanced by increasing the dosage up to the limits of acceptable toxicity to normal tissues.

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“…N o r is it o u r purpose to re p o rt on th e lite ra tu re , w hich has in creased in in verse p ro p o rtio n to its clinical im p o rta n c e . W e w ish to m en tio n only som e su m m a ry re p o rts dealing w ith th e se su b sta n c e s [1,3,15,19,20,23]. [4], M oreover o u r o b je c t w as to use a m in im u m o f anim als for th is s tu d y , an d to exam ine all o f th em m acroscopically an d m icroscopically in th e to x icity te s t, to get fu rth e r in fo rm a tio n on th e a c tiv a tio n o f C yclophospham ide.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%