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Combination chremotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristin, adriamycin and DTIC (CyVADIC") was used from 1974 to the middle of 1977 on 12 patients with various forms of metastisising soft-tissue sarcoma. An objective response was observed in seven of eleven patients. Full, although brief, remission occurred in two of six patients with fibrosarcoma and persists in one with an undifferentiated sarcoma. Partial remission was induced in one patients each with fibrosarcoma and alveolar-cell sarcoma. Mean survival time was 18 months. Those responding to treatment had a longer average survival time than those refractory to it. No statistically significant conclusions can be drawn because of the small number of patients, but these observations suggest that this combined treatment can favourable influence previously therapy-refractory forms of metastasising soft-tissue sarcoma.

It is a clinically and experimentally well supported working hypothesis that infection with hepatitis B virus may result in chronic active hepatitis in patients with suspected immune deficiencies. On this basis, a pilot study was performed in order to evaluate the effect of “specific” transfer factor (TF) in the treatment of HBs-Ag-positive chronic active hepatitis. From the leukocytes of 500 ml venous blood each of 40 volunteers that had completely recovered from acute virus hepatitis B within the last 6 months, a unique TF pool (40 units of TF) was prepared according to the method of Lawrence. Preexaminations indicated that this preparation was able to enhance cellular immune reactions in vitro. Thirteen patients with HBs-antigenemia and chronic active hepatitis (i.e., two liver biopsies within the last 6 or more months with the histological criteria of chronic aggressive hepatitis according to de Groote, elevated serum levels of bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, transaminase activities, and/or γ-globulines) were randomized: Seven received s.c. injections of two units of TF each on days 1 and 15, the other six saline. Conversion of skin reactions to some ubiquitous antigens occurred in the TF group, but no significant and constant drop of HBs-Ag serum titers was observed. Although some of the biochemical parameters seemed to ameliorate in the TF group, the differences versus the control group did not prove to be significant within the limited number of patients under observation. The in vitro reactivity of patients' lymphocytes to HBs-Ag, tested by means of the3H-thymidine uptake, was never found enhanced after TF application. In the used doses, “specific” TF was not effective in the treatment of HBs-Ag-positive chronic active hepatitis; unfavorable side-effects were not observed.

49 Patienten mit metastasiertem Bronchialcarcinom (16 kleinzellige Carcinome, 17 Plattenepithelcarcinome, 12 groszellige Carcinome, 4 Adenocarcinome) wurden mit einer Kombinationschemotherapie bestehend aus Adraimycin, Cyclophosphamid, Vincristin und DTIC behandelt. Zusatzlich erhielten in einer Pilot-Studie 21 Patienten nach Randomisierung eine Anticoagulantientherapie mit Heparin oder wurden nicht anticoaguliert. Bei 8 Patienten mit kleinzelligem Carcinom, 5 Patienten mit groszelligem Carcinom und 2 Patienten mit Plattenepithelcarcinom konnte eine Teilremission erzielt werden. Eine weitere Anzahl von Patienten zeigte ein stationares Tumorwachstum uber mehrere Monate. Die mittleren Uberlebenszeiten waren bei Patienten, die auf die Therapie ansprachen, deutlich langer als bei Therapieversagern. Ein zusatzlicher gunstiger Effekt der Anticoagulantientherapie wurde nicht gesehen.