AIM The aim of the present study was to evaluate single center experience with hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin in patients with liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma (CRC). PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of 68 patients treated between 1998 and 2007 was performed. RESULTS Among 60 patients who had no simultaneous liver-directed...

Advanced squamous carcinoma of the head and neck remains refractory to the best combinations of surgery and radiotherapy. Weekly methotrexate in high doses with leucovorin "rescue" is able to produce significant remissions in a majority of patients treated palliatively for recurrent disease yet is associated with little or no toxicity. We have attempted to improve the cure of patients with adva...

A total of 15 patients with advanced neoplastic disease, 13 with different solid tumors, one with lymphoma, and one with acute lymphocytic leukemia, underwent treatment consisting of continuous infusion of methotrexate (2 g/sq m/day) with concomitant thymidine (8 g/sq m/day) and leucovorin (1 mg/sq m/day). The dose of methotrexate was increased progressively by lengthening the methotrexate infu...

Subcutaneous metastasis from colorectal cancer is an unusual presentation. Most perineal subcutaneous metastases are found in extensive involvements of multiorgan metastases or local recurrences of rectal cancer. Subcutaneous metastasis from colon cancer is considered as a distant metastasis with poor prognosis. We report an unusual case of solitary subcutaneous metastasis beneath the perineum ...

No adequate second- or third-line therapy is available in the United States for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and disease progression following treatment with fluorouracil (5-FU)-based therapy and an irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar)-containing regimen, or a combination of the two. Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), a new platinum analog, has demonstrated high activity in the treatment of colore...

The use of pharmacogenomics has become more prevalent over the past several years in treating many disease states. Several cytochrome P450 enzymes play a role in the metabolism of many pain medications including opioids and antidepressants. Noncytochrome P450 enzymes such as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) also play a role in the explanation ...

The neurotoxicity of methotrexate (MTX) is more severe when administered intrathecally (IT) than by the oral and intravenous (IV) routes, and has been reported even with a single administration of therapeutic doses of 12 or 15mg. Prompt recognition and treatment are essential to improve the outcome after massive IT-MTX overdose. Treatment options include CSF drainage or CSF exchange, ventriculo...

Scientific evidence has recently been used to assert that certain psychological phenomena do not exist. Such claims, however, cannot be made because (1) scientific method itself is seriously limited (i.e., it can never prove a negative); (2) non-existence of phenomena would require a complete absence of both logical (theoretical) and empirical support; even if empirical support is weak, logical...

Notwithstanding recent treatment advances in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), chemotherapy with a combination of fluoropyrimidine and folate agent, often 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) leucovorin, remains the backbone regimens for majority patients mCRC. This is despite focus on molecular-targeted treatments patient stratification according to mutational status or expression levels specific genes. I...