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S Kömürcü,
S Turhal, K Altundağ,
L Atahan,
H S Turna,
O Manavoğlu,
A A Yavuz,
S Ozkök,
M Aliustaoğlu,
M Altinbaş,
Y Pak,
R Cooper,
M Yaylaci,
B Demirkan,
S Sarihan,
F Ozdemir
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ABSTRACT: We have performed a prospective evaluation of the efficacy, safety and convenience of the transdermal therapeutic system - fentanyl (TTS-F) in Turkish cancer patients when it was newly available in Turkey. Ninety-nine patients with historically confirmed malignancy and pain entered the study; the mean age was 55.1 (16-58) years. The study duration was 28 days. Transdermal therapeutic system - fentanyl was used in opioid-naïve or pre-treated patients. Most patients reported a decrease in pain severity. Use of rescue medication decreased from day 4 to day 28. The majority of patients rated patch convenience of use as excellent. A total of 22.2% of patients experienced adverse events that were either probably related or very likely to be related to the study drug. The majority of the adverse events mentioned were related to the digestive system. Eighteen serious adverse events were reported by 13 patients. Six events were doubtfully related, and 12 events were not related to the study drug. Four patients died during the trial. None of these deaths was attributed to the study drug. In conclusion, the trial showed that TTS-F is easily managed, effective and will help to enable the appropriate opioid administration to patients who are suffering from cancer pain in Turkey.
European Journal of Cancer Care 02/2007; 16(1):67-73. · 1.17 Impact Factor
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Ş. KÖMÜRCÜ md,
S. TURHAL, K. ALTUNDAĞ,
L. ATAHAN,
H.S. TURNA,
O. MANAVOĞLU,
A.A. YAVUZ,
S. ÖZKÖK,
M. ALIUSTAOĞLU,
M. ALTINBAŞ,
Y. PAK,
R. COOPER,
M. YAYLACI,
B. DEMIRKAN,
S. SARIHAN,
F. ÖZDEMIR
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: We have performed a prospective evaluation of the efficacy, safety and convenience of the transdermal therapeutic system – fentanyl (TTS-F) in Turkish cancer patients when it was newly available in Turkey. Ninety-nine patients with historically confirmed malignancy and pain entered the study; the mean age was 55.1 (16–58) years. The study duration was 28 days. Transdermal therapeutic system – fentanyl was used in opioid-naïve or pre-treated patients. Most patients reported a decrease in pain severity. Use of rescue medication decreased from day 4 to day 28. The majority of patients rated patch convenience of use as excellent. A total of 22.2% of patients experienced adverse events that were either probably related or very likely to be related to the study drug. The majority of the adverse events mentioned were related to the digestive system. Eighteen serious adverse events were reported by 13 patients. Six events were doubtfully related, and 12 events were not related to the study drug. Four patients died during the trial. None of these deaths was attributed to the study drug. In conclusion, the trial showed that TTS-F is easily managed, effective and will help to enable the appropriate opioid administration to patients who are suffering from cancer pain in Turkey.
European Journal of Cancer Care 07/2006; 16(1):67 - 73. · 1.17 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma most frequently appears with effusion of middle-ear, epistaxis, nasal obstruction, neck mass and atypical facial pain. In this case report, a 33 year-old female patient with high fever, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly which continued for two years was presented. Lymph node biopsies revealed chronic lymphadenitis. Due to the rare prevelance of high fever and hepatosplenomegaly in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the present case is evaluated in the light of the literature.
Erciyes Medical Journal. 01/2005;
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Annals of Hematology 06/2003; 82(5):321-2. · 2.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular junction disease. An association between thymic epithelial neoplasms and MG is well known. However, it is rarely associated with hematologic malignancies. In particular, very few cases of lymphoblastic lymphoma involving the thymus and MG have been reported. Here we report a case T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma involving the thymus who developed MG after the initial diagnosis. The patient initially presented with a mediastinal mass which was diagnosed as lymphoblastic lymphoma. MG was diagnosed during leukemic relapse in this patient and was based on clinical presentation and neurophysiologic studies including single fiber electromyography (EMG) and repetitive nerve stimulation tests. In contrast to the other cases with such an association, the myasthenic symptoms presented nine months after the diagnosis of lymphoma by thymectomy. The patient had a highly aggressive clinical course and was resistant to various chemotherapy regimens.
Leukemia and Lymphoma 08/2001; 42(3):527-31. · 2.58 Impact Factor
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I Barişta,
G Tekuzman,
S Yalçin,
I Güllü,
N Güler,
Y Ozişik,
A Kars,
I Celik,
A Türker, K Altundağ,
N Zengin,
A Uner,
E Baltali,
D Firat
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ABSTRACT: Our objective was to assess the efficacy of a standard dose ifosfamide and doxorubicin containing regimen in the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas. Forty consecutive patients with a median age of 35.5 years were treated. Ifosfamide was administered at a dose of 2.5 g/m(2)/day as 72-hour continuous infusion with mesna at the same dosage and schedule. Doxorubicin was given at the dose of 60 mg/m(2)/day as 2-hour infusion on day 1. Six patients had a complete response (15%), and 9 (22.5%) had a partial response, fourteen patients (35%) stable disease, and 11 (27.5%) did not respond to chemotherapy. The median duration of response was 13 and 5 months for the complete and partial responders, respectively. The median survival was 37 months. Febrile neutropenia was encountered in 9 cases (22.5%). The present ifosfamide and doxorubicin combination is a moderately effective and well-tolerable regimen in the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas.
Journal of Surgical Oncology 02/2000; 73(1):12-6. · 2.10 Impact Factor
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Nephron 03/1999; 81(2):239. · 13.26 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This article presents a case of leiomyosarcomatosis with widespread lesions involving the soft tissues and the most unlikely organs such as thyroid and salivary glands, pancreas, ligamentum teres, bladder wall, and bones without lymph node or distant metastasis. The CT and US findings of this rare phenomenon are discussed with regard to the literature.
European Radiology 02/1999; 9(4):711-4. · 3.22 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Pain is the most feared complication of cancer. In our previous studies we have showed that non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can be effectively used for the treatment of cancer pain and sublingual form of piroxicam has recently been available. So we started another study to investigate the efficacy of piroxicam in sublingual form in the treatment of cancer pain. A total of 21 patients were enrolled. Pain is assessed with a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS). After administration of a single dose of 20 mg piroxicam sublingually the patients were asked to show the severity of pain on the VAS scale 15, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 360 minutes later. The mean initial VAS score was 7.61 +/- 2.133. The analgesic effect of piroxicam started as early as 15 min and peaked at 30 min. The mean VAS scores at 15, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 360 min were 6.28 +/- 2.75, 5.33 +/- 3.526, 5.42 +/- 3.74, 5.71 +/- 3.73, 5.76 +/- 3.87 and 6.04 +/- 3.82 respectively. Although the mean VAS scores were statistically lower this was not clinically significant. Complete relief was achieved only in three patients and partial relief was detected in four (14.2% and 19% respectively). Cancer pain can be relieved in 80-90% of cases with proper treatment. Although all patients tolerated the drug very well without any significant side effects, we achieved only 33% relief with piroxicam. This figure is far from satisfactory and not acceptable for the treatment of cancer pain at this dosage and schedule.
Medical Oncology 08/1998; 15(2):137-9. · 2.14 Impact Factor
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A Kars,
I Celik,
E Kansu,
G Tekuzman,
Y Ozişik,
N Güler,
I Barişta,
I Güllü,
S Yalçin, K Altundağ,
N Zengin,
A Türker,
M Hayran,
E Baltali,
D Firat
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ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate the response characteristics of vincristine, adriamycin and dexamethasone (VAD) as a first-line chemotherapy and to determine the efficacy of maintenance alpha-interferon (alpha-IFN) in multiple myeloma (MM). Between January 1985 and December 1994, a prospective trial was performed in stage II and III MM patients. The study population received only VAD with no maintenance therapy before 1990 (n=31), and those recruited after 1990 (n=33) were planned to be maintained with alpha-IFN (5 mU, 3 times per wk) during the plateau to a maximum of 2 yr. Median follow-up duration (44 vs. 39 months), time to response (3.4 vs. 3.5 months) and rate of objective response (61.3%, 19/31 and 63.6%, 21/33) were similar in VAD-only and VAD+IFN groups, respectively. The survival analyses revealed higher median progression-free (39.6 vs. 12 months) and overall survival (65+ vs. 24 months) durations in VAD+IFN group compared to VAD-only group. VAD regimen was well tolerated and IFN-related side effects were reversible. These findings denote that IFN maintenance prolongs the duration of response obtained by VAD.
European Journal Of Haematology 09/1997; 59(2):100-4. · 2.61 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Docetaxel (Taxotere) and doxorubicin have previously demonstrated a significant antitumor activity in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Furthermore, a lack of cross resistance and overlapping toxicities between the two agents have been reported. In a prospective study, docetaxel (80 mg/m2, 1-hr iv infusion) and doxorubicin (60 mg/m2, 1-hr iv infusion) were administered as first-line chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients to evaluate the clinical efficacy and toxicity of the combination. Forty-three patients were enrolled in the study. The median age was 47 years (range, 30-69). The docetaxel-doxorubicin combination was applied with 3-week intervals until progression. Complete response was achieved in 9 (21.4%) of 42 assessable patients and partial response in 24 (57.2%) patients, for an overall response rate of 78.6%. Median response duration was 8 months (3-18 months). Nausea and vomiting (76%), alopecia (64%), neutropenia (35.7%) and mucositis (33%) were the major side effects of the combination. There was one case of cardiac toxicity. In conclusion, the docetaxel-doxorubicin protocol can be considered as an active regimen for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer with acceptable toxicity and a fairly high response rate.
Tumori 87(1):18-9. · 0.86 Impact Factor
