Treatment of malignant pleural effusions with a combination of bleomycin and tetracycline: A comparison of bleomycin or tetracycline alone versus a combination of bleomycin and tetracycline

✍ Scribed by Ali Emad; Gholam Reza Rezaian

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 348 KB
• Volume: 78
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19961215)78:12<2498::aid-cncr8>3.0.co;2-g

✦ Synopsis

BACKGROUND.

Treatment of patients with malignant pleural effusions is mostly palliative. Tetracycline and bleomycin are the two most commonly used agents for the treatment of pleurodesis. In this study, the authors used a combination of the two drugs for this particular purpose.

METHODS.

Sixty patients with massive malignant pleural effusions were divided in 3 equal groups in a simple randomized manner. Tetracycline (20 mglkg [maximum of 2 g] in 50 mL of normal saline) was administered through a chest tube in Group 1. Group 2 received bleomycin (1 U/kg [maximum of 60 U] in 50 mI, of normal saline). Group 3 received the above 2 preparations (tetracycline, 20 mg/kg [maximum of 2 g] in 40 mL of normal saline and bleomycin, 1 U/kg [maximum of 60 U] in 30 mL of normal saline) instilled one after the other, while the chest tube was clamped for 5 minutes in the interim. Follow-up examinations were performed at 7 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and 6 months.

RESULTS.

There was no significant difference in the complete response rate of the 3 groups during the first 4 months. At the end of the study, Group 3 had a significantly higher complete response rate (70%) compared with Groups 1 and 2 (35% and 25%, respectively) ( P = 0.02).