Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in early stages in children is a highly curable neoplasm. The major cause of treatment failure is the development of distant metastases, predominantly in advanced stages. This paper reports about four young patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with preradiation chemotherapy, locoregional radiotherapy and maintenance chemotherapy up to a total period of two years. Treating these four children, we noticed that preradiation chemotherapy caused satisfactory regression of the primary tumor. Three patients are still without signs of disease after 28 to 88 months and one died due to tumor progression. Further studies have to confirm our observations and support research in designing the optimal combination of effective chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy.

Between January 1988 and October 1988, we treated 12 patients with glioblastoma multiforme with BOPP chemotherapy after surgery and radiotherapy. The protocol consisted of BCNU 50 mg/m2 days 1-3, vincristine 1.4 mg/m2 (maximum 2 mg) day 1, procarbazine 50 mg/m2, days 1-7 and cisplatinum 20 mg/m2, days 1-3. All patients had at least three courses of chemotherapy ECOG toxicity criteria were used. We observed 9/12 changes in WBC, 7/12 in Hgb. All patients had nausea and vomiting. We also observed 2/12 neuropathies related to CNS. Other toxicities were not observed.

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In the period between 1987 and 1989, seven patients under 18 years of age with osteosarcoma of a lower limb were treated by preoperative intra-arterial chemotherapy. The age of the patients ranged from 12 to 17 years, the median age being 14.5 years. The polyethylene catheter was placed surgically into the lower epigastric artery. Two combinations of cytostatics were administered: adriamycin-bleomycin-cisplatin and high-dose methotrexate-vincristine-cisplatin. All patients, after two or three courses, underwent surgical resection of limb tumor. Tumor destruction ranged from 20 to 100%. Four patients with necrosis from 80-100% remained free of disease from 18 to 30 months: two, having necrosis of 40% and 95% respectively, died. The youngest patient whose necrosis was as low as 20%, after completion of the systemic chemotherapy, developed local recurrence and pulmonary metastases.

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