1994 Volume 85 Issue 4 Pages 626-631
We presented 15 patients with advanced testicular cancer treated with to 7 courses (mean: 3.2 courses) of COMPE chemotherapy. The low dose COMPE, given 14 patients, consisted of the chemotherapeutic agents as follows: cisplatin, 5mg/m2 by intravenous push infusion and thereafter 25mg/m2 by continuous 24-hour-infusion on day 3 and 30mg/m2 by continuous 24-hour-infusion on day 4; vincristine, 0.6mg/m2 by drip intravenous infusion (div) on days 1 and 2; methotrexate, 10 mg/m2 by div on day 1; peplomycin, 10mg/m2/day, divided to three times by intramuscular injection on days 1 to 3; etoposide, 100mg/m2, by div on days 3 to 5. The regular dose COMPE (given one patient) had CDDP dosage up to 50mg/m2/day on days 3 and 4. the regimens were given every 3 or 4 weeks in admission. Patients were adequately hydrated but no diuretics were used.
The patients were diagnosed as 5 seminomas with 4IIA and one IIB and as 10 non-seminomas with 2IIA, one IIB, one IIIB 1, 4 IIIB2, and 2 IIIC stagings, respectively.
Of the 15 patients, 12 patients are alive with no evidence of disease at 13-86 months (mean: 39.5 months) of follow-up duration. Six patients achieved complete remission. Of 8 patients achieved partial remission with chemotherapy alone, 6 patients achieved complete remission by following resection of residual masses or irradiation but another 2 patients (IIB2: 1, IIIC: 1) failed to achieve complete remission had relapse and died after 19 and 25 months, respectively. One patient (IIIC) showed no change had progression and died after 5 months.
The toxicities were not severe, but anorexia, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia were noticed.
COMPE chemotherapy was effective and useful for advanced testicular cancer but dose intensity of CDDP is necessary for far-advanced testicular cancer.
