Raymond B. Weiss

Bio: Raymond B. Weiss is an academic researcher from Georgetown University Medical Center. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cancer & Chemotherapy. The author has an hindex of 43, co-authored 109 publications receiving 8013 citations. Previous affiliations of Raymond B. Weiss include Georgetown University & Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Hypersensitivity reactions from taxol.

Abstract: Taxol is an antitumor agent in clinical trial that has been shown to have activity against advanced ovarian carcinoma and melanoma. Hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) have been one of the toxicities observed with administration of this drug. Of 301 patients treated, 32 patients have had definite (27 patients) or possible (five patients) hypersensitivity reactions to taxol. All but one patient had the reaction from the first or second exposure to this agent. Reactions occurred at a variety of doses and were characterized most frequently by dyspnea, hypotension, bronchospasm, urticaria, and erythematous rashes. Thirteen (41%) patients had received premedication designed to prevent such toxicity; nevertheless, they sustained HSRs. Prolonging the drug infusion appears to have somewhat reduced, but not obviated, the risk of HSRs. The cause (taxol itself or its excipient Cremophor EL; Badische Anilin und Soda-Fabrik AG [BASF], Ludwigshafen, Federal Republic of Germany) and the mechanism of these reactions to taxol are unknown. We provide guidelines to prevent or minimize such toxicity and treat reactions if they still occur.

Dose and Dose Intensity as Determinants of Outcome in the Adjuvant Treatment of Breast Cancer

Abstract: Background: Both total dose and dose intensity of adjuvant chemotherapy are postulated to be important variables in the outcome for patients with operable breast cancer. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B study 8541 examined the effects of adjuvant treatment using conventional-range dose and dose intensity in female patients with stage II (axillary lymph node-positive) breast cancer. Methods: Within 6 weeks of surgery (radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, or lumpectomy), 1550 patients with unilateral breast cancer were randomly assigned to one of three treatment arms: high-, moderate-, or low-dose intensity. The patients received cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and 5fluorouracil on day 1 of each chemotherapy cycle, with 5fluorouracil administration repeated on day 8. The highdose arm had twice the dose intensity and twice the drug dose as the low-dose arm. The moderate-dose arm had two thirds the dose intensity as the high-dose arm but the same total drug dose. Disease-free survival and overall survival were primary end points of the study. Results: At a median follow-up of 9 years, disease-free survival and overall survival for patients on the moderate- and high-dose arms are superior to the corresponding survival measures for patients on the low-dose arm (two-sided P<.0001 and two-sided P = .004, respectively), with no difference in disease-free or overall survival between the moderate- and the high-dose arms. At 5 years, overall survival (average ± standard error) is 79% ± 2% for patients on the high-dose arm, 77% ± 2% for the patients on the moderate-dose arm, and 72% ± 2% for patients on the low-dose arm; disease-free survival is 66% ± 2%, 61% ± 2%, and 56% ± 2%, respectively. Conclusion: Within the conventional dose range for this chemotherapy regimen, a higher dose is associated with better disease-free survival and overall survival. [J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:

Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Older and Younger Women With Lymph Node–Positive Breast Cancer

Abstract: ContextAdjuvant chemotherapy improves survival for patients with local-regional breast cancer, but healthy older patients at high risk of recurrence are frequently not offered adjuvant chemotherapy, and the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in older patients is uncertain.ObjectiveTo compare the benefits and toxic effects of adjuvant chemotherapy among breast cancer patients in age groups of 50 years or younger, 51 to 64 years, and 65 years or older.Design and SettingRetrospective review of data from 4 randomized trials that accrued patients from academic and community medical centers between 1975 and 1999. Median follow-up for all patients was 9.6 years. All trials randomized patients to different regimens, doses, schedules, and durations of chemotherapy and all had a treatment arm with doses or schedules that were regarded to be “high” and potentially more toxic.PatientsA total of 6487 women with lymph node–positive breast cancer; 542 (8%) patients were 65 years or older and 159 (2%) were 70 years or older.Main Outcome MeasureComparison of disease-free survival, overall survival, and treatment-related mortality among different age groups.ResultsMultivariate analysis showed that smaller tumor size, fewer positive lymph nodes, more chemotherapy, and tamoxifen use were all significantly (P<.001) related to longer disease-free and overall survival. There was no association between age and disease-free survival. Overall survival was significantly (P<.001) worse for patients aged 65 or older because of death from causes other than breast cancer. Thirty-three deaths (0.5% of all patients) were attributed to treatment, and older women had higher treatment-related mortality. Older women and younger women derived similar reductions in breast cancer mortality and recurrence from regimens containing more chemotherapy.ConclusionAge alone should not be a contraindication to the use of optimal chemotherapy regimens in older women who are in good general health.

New cisplatin analogues in development. A review.

Abstract: Cisplatin was discovered to have cytotoxic properties in the 1960s, and by the end of the 1970s it had earned a place as the key ingredient in the systemic treatment of germ cell cancers. Since the early seminal work in the preclinical and clinical development of this drug, several thousand analogues have been synthesised and tested for properties that would enhance the therapeutic index of cisplatin. About 13 of these analogues have been evaluated in clinical trials, but only one (carboplatin) has provided definite advantage over cisplatin and achieved worldwide approval. However, carboplatin has afforded benefit only in reducing some cisplatin toxicities; it has not enlarged the spectrum of platinum-sensitive cancers, nor has it proved active in cisplatin-resistant cancers. The major obstacle to the efficacy of cisplatin or carboplatin is platinum resistance, either innate or acquired. The mechanisms of this resistance have been under intense study, and many of the cisplatin analogues synthesised in the past decade have been designed specifically with the hope of overcoming platinum resistance. The mechanism of the cytotoxic activity of platinum complexes has also been studied intensely. Recently synthesised analogues have been designed to interact with DNA in a manner different from cisplatin and carboplatin, with the desire of finding new structures with a superior or wider spectrum of antitumor efficacy. Most recently, water soluble platinum complexes that retain antitumour activity, but that can be effectively absorbed after oral administration, have been synthesised with the goal of improving patient quality of life. Nine platinum analogues are currently in clinical trials around the world (ormaplatin [tetraplatin], oxaliplatin, DWA2114R, enloplatin, lobaplatin, CI-973 [NK-121], 254-S, JM-216 and liposome-entrapped cis-bis-neodecanoato-trans-R,R-1,2-diaminocyclohexane platinum (II) [LNDDP]). Some of these analogues only represent attempts to reduce cisplatin toxicity and/or allow administration without forced hydration and diuresis, which carboplatin already does. Others are 'third generation' complexes shown to have limited or no cross-resistance with cisplatin in preclinical studies. They are being tested clinically with particular attention to this highly desirable property.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Anthracyclines: Molecular Advances and Pharmacologic Developments in Antitumor Activity and Cardiotoxicity

Abstract: The clinical use of anthracyclines like doxorubicin and daunorubicin can be viewed as a sort of double-edged sword. On the one hand, anthracyclines play an undisputed key role in the treatment of many neoplastic diseases; on the other hand, chronic administration of anthracyclines induces cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure usually refractory to common medications. Second-generation analogs like epirubicin or idarubicin exhibit improvements in their therapeutic index, but the risk of inducing cardiomyopathy is not abated. It is because of their janus behavior (activity in tumors vis-a-vis toxicity in cardiomyocytes) that anthracyclines continue to attract the interest of preclinical and clinical investigations despite their longer-than-40-year record of longevity. Here we review recent progresses that may serve as a framework for reappraising the activity and toxicity of anthracyclines on basic and clinical pharmacology grounds. We review 1) new aspects of anthracycline-induced DNA damage in cancer cells; 2) the role of iron and free radicals as causative factors of apoptosis or other forms of cardiac damage; 3) molecular mechanisms of cardiotoxic synergism between anthracyclines and other anticancer agents; 4) the pharmacologic rationale and clinical recommendations for using cardioprotectants while not interfering with tumor response; 5) the development of tumor-targeted anthracycline formulations; and 6) the designing of third-generation analogs and their assessment in preclinical or clinical settings. An overview of these issues confirms that anthracyclines remain "evergreen" drugs with broad clinical indications but have still an improvable therapeutic index.