Treatment and outcome of undifferentiated XXXX in childhood: a 13-year experience.

@entity1 @entity632 @entity5 @entity786 @entity189 @entity3 @entity1487
Between 1970 and 1983, 22 pediatric @entity1 diagnosed as having undifferentiated @entity189 (UNC) were treated at the National @entity1 's Hospital of Costa Rica; primary @entity5 with local extension (T3-T4) was present in 45% of the @entity1 , and @entity3 of the cervical nodes (N1-N3) in 82%. @entity1 were divided into groups A and B according to the type of treatment received. A description of both groups is as follows. Ten @entity1 were treated with 5,000 to 6,000 rads @entity5 dose to the primary and a 5,125-rad dose was administered to the lower neck between 1970 and 1977 (group A). Six @entity1 received postradiation therapy with @entity786 and vincristine and two @entity1 also received @entity1487 . The outcome in group A was as follows: four (40%) failed to respond, six (60%) achieved full remission initially with two subsequent relapses, and the remaining four are still alive and free of relapse after 90 to 160 months (average 130) (two were treated with Co60 alone and two with chemotherapy. Twelve @entity1 were treated with chemotherapy pre- and postradiation with CPM and @entity632 for a total of 12 months (group B) between 1978 and 1984. All (100%) achieved complete initial remission; two @entity1 relapsed and died. Ten @entity1 have remained in relapse-free survival for 18-67 months (median 32). Though this is not a controlled study, our experience indicates that pre- and postradiation chemotherapy is effective in prolonging the disease-free survival in UNC and may allow a decrease of the radiation @entity5 dose.
