At present, the treatment of malignant tumor is chiefly dependent on the surgical treatment. Early detection and early operation are considered indispensable. The rate of complete cure, however, is extremely low as yet. On the other hand, a number of antitumor drugs have appeared in the last decade. This author is of the opinion that there is a limit in the surgical treatment of malignant tumor and, therefore, it should be applied in combination with chemotherapy.
Out of the 23 patients hospitalized since the year 1956, 135 cases were selected to undergo the treatment of 23 different combinations of antitumor drugs such as Sarkomycin, Carzinophilin, Nitromin, TESPA, Glucosamine, Mitomycin etc. It was not successful, however, to detect any combination of special significance. Side effects of those drugs also showed no particular difference by the difference in their combination. Somewhat better effect, however, was observed by the combination of Sarkomycin, Nitromin and Carzinophilin.
Leucopenia is the most harmful therapeutic disturbance among the side effects of antitumor drugs. If it is possible to inhibit the development of this leucopenia, there will be a marked enhancement in the therapeutic effect of the present antitumor drugs. In this connection, animal experiments were undertaken in order to know the effect of Cobalt greenpole, Splenic homogenate, L-4 cystein, Glucosamin and Leucon. Cobalt greenpole and Splenic honogenate were relatively effective, but Leucon gave the most satisfactory result. As for L-4 cystein, though it appeared to show remarkable effect, its clinical application should be suspended as reported by Iwata, until further studies are completed.
Shock treatment with a large dose of Nitromin was also attempted, but in many cases, there was a sudden appearance of systemic emaciation accompanied by remarkable leucopenia and in some cases their deaths were quickened.
Though chemotherapy of malignant tumor has a number of difficult problems to solve, some elongation of the life span was recognizable among the patients received chemotherapy in comparison with that of the 96 cases without chemotherapy enocuraging and promising the further development of the chemothepapy of malignant tumor.
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