Skip to main content
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
letter
. 1970 Jun 13;2(5710):643–645.

Study of the Clinical Efficiency of Bleomycin in Human Cancer

Clinical Screening Co-operative Group of the European Organization for Research on the Treatment of Cancer
PMCID: PMC1700735  PMID: 5429108

Abstract

A trial of the action of bleomycin was made on 237 cancer patients with tumours in a visible and actively growing phase who did not require surgery or radiotherapy. Bleomycin was found to have several special properties—absence of haemopoietic toxicity or immunosuppressive action and toxic side-effects affecting skin, mucosae, and lungs. The drug is more effective than drugs previously available for squamous cell carcinoma of the skin and cancer of the penis, the vulva, oesophagus, and uterine cervix, as well as for melanoma and mycosis fungoides. It is at least as effective as those drugs or combinations of drugs previously used for oropharyngeal tumours and testicular dysembryoma or choriocarcinoma. It is very effective when used in arterial perfusion therapy of otorhinolaryngeal tumours. It is of little value in other tumours, in particular for those of the haemopoietic system.

Full text

PDF
643

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ichikawa T. [A new anti-neoplastic agent, bleomycin--its effect on squamous cell carcinoma]. Nihon Ishikai Zasshi. 1969 Feb 15;61(4):487–497. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Kunimoto T., Hori M., Umezawa H. Modes of action of phleomycin, bleomycin and formycin on HeLa S3 cells in synchronized culture. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 1967 Sep;20(5):277–281. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Umezawa H. Bleomycin and other antitumor antibiotics of high molecular weight. Antimicrob Agents Chemother (Bethesda) 1965;5:1079–1085. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES