In the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma, dacarbazine plus tamoxifen is more effective than dacarbazine alone, as indicated by both the response rate and the median survival; the difference in efficacy is among women.

At EMR, median time to PD in bone was increased by 48% in patients who received pamidronate (249 v 168 days; P = .02, Wilcoxon test). Marked pain relief, defined as a two-point decrease lasting for > or = 6 weeks, was reported by 44% of pamidronate patients and by 30% of controls (P = .025, chi 2 test). The infusions (median, nine per patient; range, 0 to 39) were well tolerated, with no major toxicities reported. Pamidronate by repeated infusion can significantly slow the progression of bone metastases and reduce attendant morbidity.

In the adjuvant setting, the frequency of prophylactic G-CSF administration during EC could be curtailed to only two administrations (days 8 and 12) without altering outcome. This nonrandomized trial design provides support for evaluating alternative, less intense G-CSF schedules for women with early breast cancer.

The favourable tolerability and evidence of antitumor activity of GEM in patients with bladder cancer and prior M-VAC at doses > or = 875 mg/m2/wk are encouraging and deserve confirmation in larger phase II studies.

Because of the small number of patients randomized, we were unable to determine whether ABMT or a standard salvage regimen (DHAP) is superior for PR patients. However, we confirmed that myeloablative treatment is a safe and well-tolerated procedure in this category of patients and this may enable us to evaluate its role as part of a front-line treatment in poor-risk NHL patients.