Studies on medicamentous inhibitory therapy for esophageal precancerous lesions--3- and 5-year inhibitory effects of antitumor-B, retinamide and riboflavin.
Since 1983, we have been conducting inhibitory therapy for precancerous lesions of the esophagus in two regions of Henan Province considered high-risk areas of esophageal carcinoma. Our goal was to effect a 50% reduction in the canceration rate of marked esophageal dysplasia. By means of a cytological survey, 2531 cases of marked esophageal dysplasia and 3393 cases of mild esophageal dysplasia were selected. The former were randomly divided into 3 groups for antitumor-B (ATB, a mixture of Chinese herbs), retinamide (4-ethoxycarbophenylretinamide) and placebo treatment respectively, and the latter into 2 groups treated with riboflavin and placebo respectively. Treatment was continued for 3 or 5 years (administration rate greater than 90% in all groups) and esophageal cytology reexamined (reexamination rates were 94.1% and 92.5% respectively). Our results were as follows: 1) ATB 3- and 5-year subjects saw the canceration rate of marked esophageal dysplasia drop by 52.2% and 47.3% respectively as compared to control (P less than 0.01). 2) Retinamide lowered the canceration rate by 37.3% after a 3-year treatment period, with this reduction reaching 43.2% after an additional 2 years of treatment with increased dosages (P less than 0.05, P less than 0.01). 3) In the riboflavin group, the canceration rate of mild esophageal dysplasia was reduced by 22.2% and 34.8% after 3 and 5 years of treatment respectively, but these differences were not statistically significant. The above results verify the efficacy of medicamentous inhibitory therapy for esophageal precancerous lesions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lin
P
P
Institute of Oncology, CAMS, Beijing.
Zhang
J
J
Rong
Z
Z
Han
R
R
Xu
S
S
Gao
R
R
Ding
Z
Z
Wang
J
J
Feng
H
H
Cao
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D014212:Tretinoin; C054441:retinamide; D012256:Riboflavin