cortodoxone and Adenocarcinoma

A dose of 125 mg of methylprednisolone was given iv each morning for 28 days to six patients with cancer. The posttreatment mean AM/PM serum cortisol (hydrocortisone) level of 19.55/11.27 microgram/dl showed a statistically significant (P less than 0.05) diurnal rhythm and did not differ from the pretreatment level (19.28/11.85 microgram/dl). The response to metyrapone (750 mg orally, every 4 hours X six doses) was assessed in five of the six patients before and after treatment. No abnormally low Compound S (11-deoxycortisol) levels were observed. The mean serum Compound S level (15.30 microgram/dl) achieved after treatment did not differ significantly from the pretreatment mean level (20.24 microgram/dl, P greater than 0.1). No adverse clinical effects were observed during or after this steroid treatment. Since significant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal suppression has not been demonstrated, this regimen appears to be safe for use in controlled studies of clinical efficacy.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Aged; Clinical Trials as Topic; Colonic Neoplasms; Cortodoxone; Female; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Male; Methylprednisolone; Metyrapone; Middle Aged; Prostatic Neoplasms

The antitumour activity of cortiphen synthesized at the All-Union Cancer Research Centre of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences was studied on human tumour strains transplanted into nude mice and rats. Cortiphen was found to possess an expressed activity to kidney cancer, cancer of corpus uteri, chorionepithelioma, fibrosarcoma. Two strains of colon adenocarcinoma out of three have displayed an expressed sensitivity to cortiphen, while melanoma and Jewing sarcoma strains proved to be weakly sensitive to the preparation.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Choriocarcinoma; Colonic Neoplasms; Corticosterone; Drug Combinations; Female; Fibrosarcoma; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms; Mice; Mice, Nude; Neoplasm Transplantation; Neoplasms, Experimental; Nitrogen Mustard Compounds; Rats; Rats, Nude; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Uterine Neoplasms

A 64-year-old man with an asymptomatic pulmonary mass discovered on routine chest roentgenography was found to have substantial bilateral adrenal enlargement by abdominal computed tomography. Percutaneous adrenal aspiration biopsy showed cytologically normal adrenal glands. A diagnosis of subclinical 21-hydroxylase deficiency was established by stimulation testing with adrenocorticotropic hormone. The adrenal size and appearance by computed tomographic scanning in congenital adrenal hyperplasia and particularly in its subclinical form have not been well defined. This case demonstrates that marked adrenal enlargement can occur and may provide the only clue to the diagnosis in an asymptomatic patient without other clinical stigmata of adrenal hyperplasia.

Topics: 17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone; Adenocarcinoma; Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Cortodoxone; Humans; Hydroxyprogesterones; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Steroid Hydroxylases; Syndrome