title: Paclitaxel (Taxol) combination therapy for resistant germ cell tumors.
abstract: Rob Paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Princeton, NJ) showed antitumor activity in patients with germ cell tumors resistant to combination cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and was included in two risk-directed first-line combination salvage programs. Patients with relapsed germ cell tumors originating from a testis primary site were treated in a phase I/II trial with conventional-dose paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin. Fifteen of 21 evaluable patients (71%) achieved a complete or partial response with normal serum tumor markers; 12 patients (57%) remain progression free with a median follow-up period of 15 months. Accrual to this trial continues to further define efficacy and toxicity. In a second trial, patient with cisplatin-resistant germ cell tumors and unfavorable prognostic features (prior incomplete response or an extragonadal primary site) were treated with a dose-intensive program consisting of rapid recycling of paclitaxel plus ifosfamide followed by carboplatin plus etoposide with stem cell support. Twenty-one of 37 assessable patients (57%) achieved a complete response and two (5%) achieved a partial response with negative serum tumor markers; 15 (41%) of these patients remain in durable response with a median follow-up period of 30 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Motzer
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018237:Germinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012074:Remission Induction; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D017239:Paclitaxel