Adriamycin and bleomycin, alone and in combination, in gynecologic cancers

Abstract

Treatment with adriamycin (ADM) and bleomycin (BLEO) alone and in combination has been evaluated in 56 patients with a variety of advanced stage gynecologic cancers. ADM has a high degree of antitumor activity against uterine sarcomas (leiomyosarcoma and stromal sarcoma) and some of the unusual ovarian cancers including ovarian teratoma. ADM was also active and gave clinically worthwhile responses against squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and vagina. Occasional objective remissions were seen in patients with epithelial ovarian adenocarcinomas. The combination of ADM plus BLEO appeared to show no enhancement of the effect achieved by ADM alone. There were no objective responses in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix treated with BLEO alone. The usual toxic manifestations of ADM and BLEO were observed, and there appeared to be no potentiation of the toxicity of each agent when used in combination. It is concluded that ADM is a valuable chemotherapeutic agent for certain gynecologic cancers which are usually refractory to other chemotherapeutic agents. Further investigation of its use alone and in combination with other drugs is indicated.