Improved results of neoadjuvant BVM chemotherapy using Culevit tablets as an adjuvant
aDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, bDepartment of Biochemistry and Medical Chemistry, cDepartment of Pathology; University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary
AIM: It was previously demonstrated that 16 substances (amino acids, monosacharides, nucleobases, etc.) of the circulatory system acting synergistically had a cytotoxic effect (inducing apoptosis) in vitro and in vivo on different tumor cell lines, but not on normal cells in vitro and on animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the adjuvant effect of Culevit tablets (a Hungarian food supplement) containing the above substances on the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for oropharyngeal planocellular cancer. METHODS: From January 1999 we used for therapy a combination of BVM (Bleomycine-Vincristine-Methotrexate) chemotherapy + Culevit tablets (12-14 tablets per day) (BVM+ group). The chemotherapy protocol was published earlier by us. Earlier BVM chemotherapy was used only (BVM group). We compared the first 30 BVM+ patients to 20 BVM patients. There was no difference in T stage between the two groups before treatments. The mean T was 2,63 in the BVM+ group and 2,65 in the BVM group. The rest tumors were investigated histologically in the surgical specimens. The tumor-free survival was observed clinically in a 24 months period. RESULTS: The histological results were significantly better in the BVM+ group as 23% of rest primary tumor was absent, while in the BVM group this was only 7%. The side effect was minimal in both groups. In the 24 months follow-up time the rate of the tumor-free survival was higher in the BVM+ group (77%) than in the BVM group (55%). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the better histological result and higher tumor-free survival rate in the BVM+ group, we recommend the adjuvant use of Culevit tablets in BVM chemotherapy of oropharyngeal planocellular cancer to increase further the efficacy of treatment in preventing the recidivism.
Paper presented at the International Symposium on Predictive Oncology and Intervention Strategies; Nice, France; February 7 - 10, 2004; in oral session 991 (Synergistic therapies).