The use of four-drug combination chemotherapy (D.A.V.E.) in the treatment of advanced Wilms' tumour

Summary

A study was begun in 1971 at St. Bartholomew's Hospital with a combination of 4 drugs, dactinomycin (actinomycin D), adriamycin, vincristine and Endoxan (cyclophosphamide) (D.A.V.E.), together with surgery and radiation, in the treatment of stage III and stage IV Wilms' tumour. Seventy-one percent of the children treated achieved complete response. The median survival from diagnosis was 19 months, and in those children achieving complete response the median disease-free survival has not yet been reached. Toxicity was not a serious problem.

The study group is compared with a group of children treated at this hospital before 1971. There is an improved survival in the children treated with D.A.V.E. Children who have relapsed with stage I or stage II disease may also respond.

This four-drug combination was well tolerated and effective, and confirms recent experience suggesting that intensive multiple-drug regimens may be curative even in advanced disease.