levoleucovorin and Erythema

Topics: Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Colonic Neoplasms; Drug Administration Schedule; Erythema; Fluorouracil; Foot; Hand; Humans; Leucovorin; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Organoplatinum Compounds; Oxaliplatin; Pain; Penis; Scrotum; Skin Diseases; Stomatitis; Syndrome

Topics: Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Erythema; Female; Fluorouracil; Humans; Injections, Intravenous; Leucovorin; Middle Aged; Paresthesia; Syndrome

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is an antimetabolite frequently used in the treatment of cancer. The most common adverse reactions are acute gastrointestinal effects and bone marrow suppression while neurological, ocular and dermatological toxicities are unusual. Several cutaneous manifestations can be found. They are hyperpigmentation, maculo-papular eruption and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (PPES) promptly reversed with discontinuation of 5-FU. The etiopathogenesis of such manifestations is still unknown particularly as regards PPES, but it has been postulated that the local drug accumulation secondary to different scheduling (continuous infusion instead of bolus infusion), the total amount of drug, alcoholism, local trauma, increased blood flow could be responsible for them. In this study we have reported 10 cases of dermatological toxicity (1 of these had PPES) observed from January '91 to December '93 in 81 patients treated with bolus injection of 5-FU containing combination chemotherapy.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Colorectal Neoplasms; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Erythema; Female; Fluorouracil; Foot Dermatoses; Hand Dermatoses; Humans; Leucovorin; Male; Middle Aged; Skin Diseases; Stomach Neoplasms

Fluorouracil is a common cause of acral erythema and a variety of pigmentary anomalies. These conditions are believed to be the result of a direct toxic effect or a graft-versus-host-like reaction. We describe two cases in which an erythematous eruption that evolved into hyperpigmented, hyperkeratotic lesions developed in two patients who were receiving combination chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, folinic acid, and alpha-interferon). The histologic features included apoptotic keratinocytes with exocytosis of mononuclear cells, some showing satellitosis, and hydropic change of the basal cell layer with an interface dermatitis that was most marked within the distal eccrine duct and acrosyringium. Clinicopathologic correlation suggests that the eruption was primarily caused by involvement of the sweat glands and hair follicles. Although a direct toxic effect may play some role, the histologic features suggest that the dominant mechanism is a graft-versus-host-like or host-versus-altered-host-type reaction.

Topics: Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Drug Eruptions; Erythema; Female; Fluorouracil; Graft vs Host Disease; Humans; Interferon alpha-2; Interferon-alpha; Keratosis; Leucovorin; Male; Middle Aged; Pigmentation Disorders; Recombinant Proteins

We report three cases of a distinctive palmar-plantar erythema associated with the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and acute myeloid leukaemia. The rash is characterized by a painful, sharply demarcated, intense erythema of the palms and/or soles followed by bulla formation, desquamation and healing. The eruption is self limiting in nature and did not adversely affect prognosis. Treatment need be neither altered nor stopped; only symptomatic measures are required.

Topics: Adult; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Bleomycin; Cyclophosphamide; Doxorubicin; Erythema; Female; Foot Dermatoses; Hand Dermatoses; Humans; Leucovorin; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; Male; Methotrexate; Middle Aged; Prednisone; Vincristine

Twenty-eight patients with advanced measurable gastric carcinoma were treated with leucovorin (dl-CF; folinic acid; dl-5-formyltetrahydrofolic acid) 500 mg/m2 administered as a two-hour infusion and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 600 mg/m2 intravenous (IV) push midinfusion. Treatment was administered weekly for 6 weeks followed by a 2-week rest. Twenty-five patients were evaluable for response. Twelve of them had received previous combination chemotherapy that included 5-FU. Median age was 59 years, and median Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status was 2. Three patients had partial responses and two of them had been treated previously with 5-FU. Twelve patients had stable disease. Five of these patients had subjective improvement with improved performance status and/or decreased dysphagia. The 95% confidence interval for response is 3% to 32%. Median survival time for all 28 patients enrolled in the study was 22 weeks. Toxicity was moderate and consisted primarily of diarrhea. Myelosuppression, skin rash, and increased lacrimation also occurred. Plasma concentrations of the active reduced folates, I-CF and 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid (5-CH3FH4), were greater than the 10 mumol/L levels that potentiate 5-FU activity in in vitro models, for more than four hours in all five patients in whom pharmacokinetics were studied. 5-FU and high-dose dl-CF has activity in patients with gastric carcinoma including patients who had previously progressed on 5-FU-containing combinations. Further study in a larger patient population is necessary to determine the usefulness of this regimen in gastric carcinoma.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Bone Marrow Diseases; Diarrhea; Drug Evaluation; Erythema; Fluorouracil; Humans; Injections, Intravenous; Kinetics; Leucovorin; Middle Aged; Stomach Neoplasms

Topics: Aged; Antineoplastic Agents; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Cyclophosphamide; Doxorubicin; Drug Therapy, Combination; Erythema; Etoposide; Female; Humans; Leucovorin; Lymphoma; Methotrexate; Prednisone

Methodichlorophen was given to 26 patients with terminal malignant disease. Eight patients received adequate doses, and five of them showed objective evidence of tumour regression while three failed to respond. Those who responded included four out of five patients with lung cancer (three with squamous-cell carcinoma and one with oat-cell carcinoma) and a patient with hypernephroma. Two patients with testicular teratomas and one with acute myeloid leukemia failed to respond. The drug may be given safely by mouth to outpatients if certain precautions are taken.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Aged; Antineoplastic Agents; Bone Marrow Diseases; Carcinoma, Small Cell; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chlorobenzenes; Drug Therapy, Combination; Erythema; Headache; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms; Leucovorin; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasms; Pyrimethamine; Pyrimidines; Teratoma; Testicular Neoplasms