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Diarrhea is a well-recognized side effect of chemotherapy and can result in chemotherapy delay and/or dose reduction, potentially reducing the therapeutic benefit of treatment. Octreotide has been shown to be effective in controlling chemotherapy-induced diarrhea (CID). In this open-label, randomized, multicenter study, designed to asses the effects of two dose levels of octreotide long-acting release (LAR), patients with active or prior CID and scheduled for chemotherapy were randomized to receive up to six doses of either 30 or 40 mg of octreotide LAR. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients experiencing severe diarrhea during the trial. Secondary endpoints included the proportion of patients requiring IV fluids due to diarrhea, unscheduled visits to healthcare professionals due to diarrhea, and changes in primary therapy, as well as treatment satisfaction and quality of life. In total, 147 patients were randomized and received at least 1 dose; 124 patients were efficacy-evaluable. Baseline characters were balanced in the 30-mg and 40-mg groups with the exception of gender. Fewer patients in the 40-mg group compared with those in the 30-mg group experienced severe diarrhea (61.7% vs 48.4%; P = 0.14), required IV fluid (31.7% vs 18.8%; P = 0.10), and had diarrhea-related unscheduled healthcare visits (41.7% vs. 28.1 %; P = 0.11); however, these differences were not statistically significant. No significant differences were observed between the treatment groups in either measured quality of life or treatment satisfaction. Adverse events were balanced between the two groups. No specific recommendations can be made from this trial regarding the use of 30 mg versus 40 mg of octreotide LAR for CID.

After one dose of adriamycin, a subacute cardiomyopathy was observed in the mouse by both light and electron microscopy. The microscopic alterations were characterized by single-cell necrosis and mitochondrial degeneration. These lesions were similar to those seen in man and shortly preceded fatal toxicity.

Peritoneoscopy was done within 1 month of exploratory laparotomy in 30 consecutive patients, with ovarian carcinoma as part of their pretreatment evaluation. Six of the 7 patients who were thought to have ovarian carcinoma localized to the pelvis (stages I and II) were found to have advanced disease (stage III) at peritoneoscopy and thus required a change in therapy. Metastatic diaphragmatic involvement in ovarian carcinoma is common and was found in 77 percent of all patients studied. The routine shielding if the liver area ordinarily used with total abdominal radiotherapy would select these patients for therapeutic failure. Peritoneoscopy supplied reevaluable finding in 2 of 7 patients having normal physical, roentgenologic, and laboratory examinations, as well as in 93 percent of all patients stuided. "Second look" peritoneoscopy precluded the need the laparotomy in 5 to 13 patients achieving as apparent clinical remission.

The relative merits of percutaneous liver biopsy, peritoneoscopy directed liver biopsy and wedge liver biopsy during laparotomy were examined in a series of 100 consecutive untreated patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Sixteen of 77 patients had positive findings on percutaneous liver biopsy specimens, with the best yield in patients with nodular (21%) and diffuse (33%) poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma. Forty-nine of the 61 patients having negative percutaneous biopsies were subjected to peritoneoscopy and 9 additional positive biopsies were obtained. Thirty-two of the 40 patients having negative percutaneous and peritoneoscopy findings underwent laparotomy and wedge biopsy of the liver, and 8 specimens (25%) were positive for liver involvement; all but one of these were in patients with nodular or diffuse poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma. This study indicates that over two-thirds of untreated patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can be shown to have Stage IV disease without undergoing laparotomy, and that in the remaining patients, laparotomy proved of consistent value only in patients with poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma.

Forty patients with ovarian adenocarcinoma had peritoneoscopy within 1 month of their exploratory laparotomy as part of their pretreatment evaluation. Of 12 patients (58%) believed to have disease localized to the pelvis (stage 1 or II) at laparotomy staging 7 were found to have more advanced disease (stage III) at peritoneoscopy and thus required a change in therapy. Involvement of the diaphragm with metastatic ovarian carcinoma was found in 63% of all patients. This finding again necessitated a change in therapy, since the right hemidiaphragm is shielded along with the liver when abdominal radiotherapy is used. Peritoneoscopy supplied the only followable findings with which to gauge response to therapy in 40% of the patients and also supplied followable findings in 78% of all patients studied. Second-look peritoneoscopy was performed in all patients achieving an apparent clinical remission with chemotherapy. Active disease was found in 43% of these patients, which thus precluded the need for laparotomy.

Peritoneoscopy was performed in 22 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as a re-staging technique to rule out relapse or persistence of active disease after intensive chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Fifteen patients with previous hepatic involvement achieved a complete clinical remission; however, five patients (33%) had persistent disease proved by biopsy at peritoneoscopy. In seven patients suspected to have a clinical relapse, peritoneoscopy biopsies documented relapse in three patients (43%), including two patients with negative percutaneous liver biopsies. Because of its low morbidity rate (4%), peritoneoscopy can be utilized to re-stage hepatic involvement by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients more accurately than percutaneous liver biopsies and with less morbidity than laparotomy.