Options for investigative postsurgical therapy for gastric cancer, and case report of using the option for combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
The investigative therapy for a senior patient after radical subtotal gastroesophagectomy for regional lymph node and proximal esophagus metastasized adenocarcinoma (stage IIIA, T3, N 1 M0) of the cardioesophageal junction is reported. The case has several unusual features: (1) the patient is the author and is not a physician; (2) in the absence of codified postsurgical treatment, he used his academic biomedical background, commercial associations, and international contacts to find and prioritize six clinically tested options for investigative postsurgical therapy; (3) after unsuccessful efforts to append ongoing clinical trials of new immunotherapies for breast adenocarcinoma (the first two therapy options), an innovative protocol was designed and gained allowance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for his use of combined nonspecific immunotherapy and chemotherapy based on extensive trials in South Korea that showed the synergistic effect of the two postsurgical therapies used together. A potent, new, nonspecific immunostimulant (DetoxPC) was injected subcutaneously in 10 diminishing doses during 105 weeks. Two standard chemotherapeutic drugs (5-fluorouracil and mitomycin-C) were injected intravenously in six equal doses during three weeks. Five years after the surgery, the patient enjoys good health without signs or symptoms of recurrence or metastasis. He discusses his perspectives on future clinical trials and on a patient actively pursuing investigative postsurgical therapy for a malignancy when otherwise poor survival is indicated.
Gerhardt
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Department of Microbiology and Public Health, Colleges of Human Medicine and of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1101, USA.
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008050:Lipid A / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004338:Drug Combinations; D008050:Lipid A; C112124:detox adjuvant; D016685:Mitomycin; D005472:Fluorouracil