New Directions in Anti-Cancer Chemotherapy : Symposium Held in Conjunction with the 4th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Chemotherapy, Paris, February 1993. Supplement Issue: Oncology 1994, Vol. 51, Suppl. 1

This publication contains the proceedings of a symposium focusing on the current use of and new indications for two anti-cancer agents: megestrol acetate (MA) and Taxol (paclitaxel).

MA, an orally active progesterone derivative, is used in the treatment of hormone-responsive breast cancer, where its activity and safety are well documented.

Due to one of its side effects - weight gain - it has become the subject of new investigations, testing its efficacy in treating cachexia in cancer and AIDS patients.

For both groups of patients it proved effective in enhancing appetite with ensuing weight gain.

The second part of this issue presents three studies focusing on the activity of paclitaxel in advanced breast cancer.

These data provide new avenues for the treatment of patients who have failed prior chemotherapy and open the field to more active combination regimens.

Summarizing the most recent knowledge on MA and paclitaxel, this publication is essential reading for oncologists and gynecologists involved in the treatment of breast cancer patients.