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Theoretical, Clinical, and Pharmacokinetic Aspects of Cancer Chemotherapy Administered by Continuous Infusion

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Clinical Applications of Continuous Infusion Chemotherapy and Concomitant Radiation Therapy

Abstract

Most anti-cancer drugs produce toxic side-effects at the doses used for treatment. This low therapeutic index, or ratio between therapeutic and toxic doses, has prompted various approaches towards increasing the selectivity of cancer chemotherapy. Perhaps the most successful of these has been the use of combination chemotherapy, which increased the therapeutic ratio by combining drugs with non-overlapping side-effects and in some cases lowering individual doses. This approach over the last twenty years has resulted in the cure of several types of cancer (leukemias, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, germ cell cancers). The use of drugs in combination is not curative for most human solid tumors, however, and in fact may increase toxicity without increasing therapeutic efficacy for tumors which are refractory to the drugs employed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Oncology and Clinical Pharmacology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Medical Center, M-211, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Branimir Ivan Sikic

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  1. Branimir Ivan Sikic
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Oncology, State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, USA

    C. Julian Rosenthal M.D. (Associate Professor of Medicine, Director) (Associate Professor of Medicine, Director)

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, State University of New York Health Science Center of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, USA

    Marvin Rotman M.D. (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

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Sikic, B.I. (1986). Theoretical, Clinical, and Pharmacokinetic Aspects of Cancer Chemotherapy Administered by Continuous Infusion. In: Rosenthal, C.J., Rotman, M. (eds) Clinical Applications of Continuous Infusion Chemotherapy and Concomitant Radiation Therapy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2197-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2197-2_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9291-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2197-2

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