Monthly injections of ibandronate 2 mg IV neither reduced bone morbidity nor prolonged survival in the overall population of stage II/III multiple myeloma patients.

Bendamustine can efficaciously and safely replace cyclophosphamide, as used in standard COP therapy, for the treatment of patients with indolent NHL and mantle cell lymphoma. Long-term survival data suggest a clinically significant benefit for patients treated with BOP.

In this study there were no differences in the efficacy and safety of itraconazole and fluconazole prophylaxis in neutropenic patients with haematological malignancies.

In a cross-sectional study of 181 male workers of a rotogravure printing plant, most of whom were exposed to toluene levels well above the GDR threshold limit values, 55 subjects revealed pathological liver screening values (activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamyltransferase; liver size). The differential diagnostic examination showed in 51 out of these 55 subjects an association with competing factors such as alcohol abuse (78%) and overweight (40%), to a slight extent disorders of fat and carbohydrate metabolism and of the gallbladder. Drug intake did not play any role. The variance and regression analyses of the biochemical data have shown that alcohol significantly and considerably increases the activities of all three enzymes tested. Bodyweight had a similar, but less pronounced, significant effect. On the other hand, in subjects with a higher alcohol intake the activities of liver enzymes in highly toluene exposed subgroups were significantly and clearly lower than among slightly toluene exposed workers.

Dexniguldipine-HCl is a new dihydropyridine compound that exerts selective antiproliferative activity in a variety of tumor models and, in addition, has a high potency in overcoming multidrug resistance. The purpose of this trial was to determine the toxicity and pharmacokinetics of dexniguldipine and to establish a recommended dose for phase II trials. A total of 37 patients with cancer were treated with oral dexniguldipine in increasing doses for up to 7 days. The main parameters evaluated were subjective tolerance and laboratory and cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure and ECG). Blood samples were drawn for analysis of the drug's pharmacokinetics. Dizziness and nausea were the major adverse events observed in seven patients, but episodes were generally mild and not clearly dose-related. Vomiting occurred in one patient. Hypotensive effects and orthostatic dysregulation were observed in some patients but were not considered to be dose-limiting. Therefore, no dose-limiting toxicity was found and the maximally tolerable dose could not be determined. Pharmacokinetic data showed wide interindividual variation and a dose-dependent increase in steady-state serum concentrations at doses of up to 1,000 mg daily, with no clear further increase being observed at higher doses. Consistently high concentrations were achieved with the 2,500-mg dose. Despite the lack of dose-limiting toxicity, higher doses of dexniguldipine do not appear to be useful for clinical evaluation because of the pharmacokinetic properties of the compound: therefore, 2,500 mg/day is recommended as the daily dose for phase II trials.