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Vinblastine (Vinblastine Sulfate) - Summary

 
 



VINBLASTINE SUMMARY

Vinblastine sulfate is the salt of an alkaloid extracted from Vinca rosea Linn., a common flowering herb known as the periwinkle (more properly known as Catharanthus roseus G. Don). Previously, the generic name was vincaleukoblastine, abbreviated VLB.  It is a stathmokinetic oncolytic agent.  When treated in vitro with this preparation, growing cells are arrested in metaphase.

Vinblastine Sulfate Injection is indicated in the palliative treatment of the following:

I. Frequently Responsive Malignancies

  • Generalized HodgkinÂ’s disease (Stages III and IV, Ann Arbor modification of Rye staging system)
  • Lymphocytic lymphoma (nodular and diffuse, poorly and well differentiated)
  • Histiocytic lymphoma
  • Mycosis fungoides (advanced stages)
  • Advanced carcinoma of the testis
  • KaposiÂ’s sarcoma
  • Letterer-Siwe disease (histiocytosis X)

II. Less Frequently Responsive Malignancies

  • Choriocarcinoma resistant to other chemotherapeutic agents
  • Carcinoma of the breast, unresponsive to appropriate endocrine surgery and hormonal therapy

Current principles of chemotherapy for many types of cancer include the concurrent administration of several antineoplastic agents.  For enhanced therapeutic effect without additive toxicity, agents with different dose-limiting clinical toxicities and different mechanisms of action are generally selected.  Therefore, although vinblastine sulfate is effective as a single agent in the aforementioned indications, it is usually administered in combination with other antineoplastic drugs.  Such combination therapy produces a greater percentage of response than does a single-agent regimen.  These principles have been applied, for example, in the chemotherapy of Hodgkin’s disease.

Hodgkin's Disease

Vinblastine sulfate has been shown to be one of the most effective single agents for the treatment of Hodgkin’s disease.  Advanced Hodgkin’s disease has also been successfully treated with several multiple-drug regimens that included vinblastine sulfate.  Patients who had relapses after treatment with the MOPP program— mechlorethamine hydrochloride (nitrogen mustard), vincristine sulfate, prednisone and procarbazine—have likewise responded to combination-drug therapy that included vinblastine sulfate.  A protocol using cyclophosphamide in place of nitrogen mustard and vinblastine sulfate instead of vincristine sulfate is an alternative therapy for previously untreated patients with advanced Hodgkin’s disease.

Advanced testicular germinal-cell cancers (embryonal carcinoma, teratocarcinoma and choriocarcinoma) are sensitive to vinblastine sulfate alone, but better clinical results are achieved when vinblastine sulfate is administered concomitantly with other antineoplastic agents.  The effect of bleomycin is significantly enhanced if vinblastine sulfate is administered six to eight hours prior to the administration of bleomycin; this schedule permits more cells to be arrested during metaphase, the stage of the cell cycle in which bleomycin is active.


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NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Published Studies Related to Vinblastine

International phase III trial assessing neoadjuvant cisplatin, methotrexate, and vinblastine chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: long-term results of the BA06 30894 trial. [2011.06.01]
PURPOSE: This article presents the long-term results of the international multicenter randomized trial that investigated the use of neoadjuvant cisplatin, methotrexate, and vinblastine (CMV) chemotherapy in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial cancer of the bladder treated by cystectomy and/or radiotherapy. Nine hundred seventy-six patients were recruited between 1989 and 1995, and median follow-up is now 8.0 years... CONCLUSION: We conclude that CMV chemotherapy improves outcome as first-line adjunctive treatment for invasive bladder cancer. Two large randomized trials (by the Medical Research Council/European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Southwest Oncology Group) have confirmed a statistically significant and clinically relevant survival benefit, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by definitive local therapy should be viewed as state of the art, as compared with cystectomy or radiotherapy alone, for deeply invasive bladder cancer.

Randomized phase II/III trial assessing gemcitabine/ carboplatin and methotrexate/carboplatin/vinblastine in patients with advanced urothelial cancer "unfit" for cisplatin-based chemotherapy: phase II--results of EORTC study 30986. [2009.11.20]
PURPOSE: There is no standard treatment for patients with advanced urothelial cancer who are ineligible ("unfit") for cisplatin-based chemotherapy (CHT). To compare the activity and safety of two CHT combinations in this patient group, a randomized phase II/III trial was conducted by the EORTC (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer). We report here the phase II results of the study... CONCLUSION: Both combinations are active in this group of unfit patients. However, patients with PS 2 and GFR less than 60 mL/min do not benefit from combination CHT. Alternative treatment modalities should be sought in this subgroup of poor-risk patients.

Early versus late intensification for patients with high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma-3 cycles of intensive chemotherapy plus low-dose lymph node radiation therapy versus 4 cycles of combined doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine plus myeloablative chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation: five-year results of a randomized trial on behalf of the GOELAMS Group. [2008.12.15]
BACKGROUND: The 5-year freedom from treatment failure (FFTF) rate, with treatment failure defined as the lack of post-treatment complete remission (CR), recurrence, or death, ranges from 60% to 70% after 6 to 8 cycles of combined doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD), which is the reference treatment for patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). In this randomized, phase 2 study, the authors tested 2 intensive chemotherapy regimens in 158 patients with clinical stage (CS) IIB through IV HL accompanied by high-risk factors who were recruited between May 1997 and December 2004... CONCLUSIONS: Early intensification (Arm V) and late intensification (Arm A) were equally effective for treating patients with high-risk/advanced HL.

Phase III trial comparing concurrent biochemotherapy with cisplatin, vinblastine, dacarbazine, interleukin-2, and interferon alfa-2b with cisplatin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine alone in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma (E3695): a trial coordinated by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. [2008.12.10]
PURPOSE: Phase II trials with biochemotherapy (BCT) have shown encouraging response rates in metastatic melanoma, and meta-analyses and one phase III trial have suggested a survival benefit. In an effort to determine the relative efficacy of BCT compared with chemotherapy alone, a phase III trial was performed within the United States Intergroup... CONCLUSION: Although BCT produced slightly higher response rates and longer median progression-free survival than CVD alone, this was not associated with either improved overall survival or durable responses. Considering the extra toxicity and complexity, this concurrent BCT regimen cannot be recommended for patients with metastatic melanoma.

Randomized trial comparing bleomycin/etoposide/cisplatin with alternating cisplatin/cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin and vinblastine/bleomycin regimens of chemotherapy for patients with intermediate- and poor-risk metastatic nonseminomatous germ cell tumors: Genito-Urinary Group of the French Federation of Cancer Centers Trial T93MP. [2008.01.20]
PURPOSE: Two chemotherapy regimens for intermediate- and poor-risk metastatic nonseminomatous germ cell tumors were compared for efficacy and toxicity... CONCLUSION: Because of equivalent efficacy and lesser toxicity, the standard treatment for patients with intermediate- and poor-risk metastatic nonseminomatous germ cell tumors remains four cycles of BEP.

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Clinical Trials Related to Vinblastine

Weekly Vinblastine for Chemotherapy Naive Children With Progressive Low Grade Glioma (PLGGs) [Active, not recruiting]
The overall objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of weekly Vinblastine in chemotherapy naïve patients with progressive or incompletely resected paediatric low grade glioma, to generate estimates of the response rate, progression-free survival, toxicity and quality of daily living among the population treated and determine biologic factors which will enable us to predict tumour behaviour.

Phase 2 Study of Vinblastine in Children With Recurrent or Refractory Low Grade Glioma [Completed]
This study is examining whether Vinblastine is an effective drug to shrink low grade glioma brain tumors in children, and what the side effects are.

Gamma-secretase/Notch Signalling Pathway Inhibitor RO4929097 in Combination With Cisplatin, Vinblastine, and Temozolomide in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Melanoma [Completed]
This phase Ib/II trial studies the side effects and best dose of gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 when given together with cisplatin, vinblastine, and temozolomide and to see how well they work in treating patients with recurrent or metastatic melanoma. Gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin, vinblastine, and temozolomide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 together with combination chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells.

Study of Vinblastine in Combination With Nilotinib in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults [Recruiting]

Vinblastine and Carboplatin in Treating Young Patients With Newly Diagnosed or Recurrent Low-Grade Glioma [Completed]
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as vinblastine and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of vinblastine when given together with carboplatin in treating young patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent low-grade glioma.

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Reports of Suspected Vinblastine Side Effects

Pancytopenia (4)Streptococcal Bacteraemia (3)Renal Failure Acute (3)Vomiting (3)Nausea (3)Carbon Monoxide Diffusing Capacity Decreased (3)Febrile Neutropenia (3)Coordination Abnormal (2)Peripheral Sensorimotor Neuropathy (2)Hypoaesthesia (2)more >>


Page last updated: 2011-12-09

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