title: European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer (E.O.R.T.C.). Controlled trials of chemotherapy as an adjuvant or palliative treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: The E.O.R.T.C. Head and Neck Cooperative Group has designed a relatively complex international programme for a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of NPC. The aim of the programme is to evaluate the usefulness of chemotherapy in preventing metastases and recurrences and, at the same time, to test other chemotherapeutic regimens and to compare them subsequently  with the first one. Two contemporaneous controlled trials are foreseen: (1) long-term chemotherapy after radiotherapy for T3-4 No and T1-4 N1-3 MO cases (NPC 1) and (2) aggressive chemotherapy for MI cases and for patients who develop local or regional recurrences during the first trial (NPC 2). A search of the literature and a pilot study carried out at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan on advanced cases of NPC showed the following percentages of regression after various kinds of chemotherapy: cyclophosphamide, 38%; adriamycin, 39%; bleomycin, 28%; and methtrexate, 17%. On this basis, the following regimens were chosen: NPC 1 trial: cyclophosphamide (1.2 g/m2 every three weeks for 10 cycles) and a control group receiving no chemotherapy NPC 2 trial: adriamycin alone versus a combination of vinblastine + bleomycin + adriamycin. The programme was begun a short time ago, and no results are yet available.
mesh_terms: D001761:Bleomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D012106:Research; D012107:Research Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D001761:Bleomycin; D014747:Vinblastine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide