InstitutionNo. casesCleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio4Cook County Hospital, Chicago, illinois7Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan82Indiana University, Indianapolis, indiana Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio96* 82 8Presbyterian—St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago, illinoisIUniversity of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio19University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois9University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa15V.A. Center, Wood, Wisconsin12V.A. Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan28V.A. Research Hospital, Chicago, Illinois2Total: 265 In a cooperative study by the members of the Midwest Cancer Chemotherapy Group a series of @65patients was treated with vinbiastine (VLB, Vincaleukoblastine, and Velban) to determine its spectrum of activity as an antineoplastic drug (Table 1). * Vinblastine is the generic name assigned to Vincaleuko blastine. t A preliminary report of this study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research, April, 1961. @ Supported by the following research grants from the Can cer Chemotherapy National Service Center, National Cancer Institute, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare: CYP 4919—Cleveland Clinic (Battle, J., Hewlett, J.); CYP 4913—HektoenInstitute (Schwartz, S.); CYP 4915—Henry Ford Hospital (Monto, R., Rebuck, J.); CYP 4921—MarquetteUniversity (Pisciotta, A.); CYP 4920—Ohio State University (Doan, C., Wall, R., Wilson, H., Bouroncle,B.); CYP 5429—Presbyterian—St. Luke's Hospital (Trobaugh, F.); CYP 4914—University of Cincinnati (Will,J., Vilter, R.); CYP 4912—University of illinois (Louis, J., Chair man, Best, W., Limarzi,L); CYP 4916—IndianaUniversity (Rohn, R., Bond, W.); CYP 4917—University of Iowa (Fowler,W.); CYP4938—UmversityofMichigan (Bishop,R., Zarafonitis, C.); CYP 4918—Wayne State University (Clif ford, G.); V. A. Center, Wood, Wisconsin (Dessel, B.); V.A. Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Korst, D., Frenkel, E.); V.A. Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hagen, P.); Veterans Ad ministration, Washington, D.C. (Lee, L); V.A.R. Hospital, Chicago, Illinois (Unman, J.). Received for publication May 28, 1962. Vinblastine is an alkaloid of the common pen winkle, Vinca rosea Linn, and represents a new class of oncolytic agents. During pharmacologic investigation (14, 15) it was noted that granulo TABLE 1 iNSTITUTIONS CONTRIBUTING CASES TO VLB STUDY *27 of these cases have been reported previously (10). cytopenia was produced in experimental animals and that the material possessed definite cytostatic activity against transplantable mammary adeno carcinoma in DBA/Jax mice and against a trans 169 Vinblastine* in Neoplastic Diseaset MIDWEST COOPERATIVE CHEMOTHERAPY GROUPS COMMITTEE FOR THIS STUDY: THOMAS L. WRIGHT, JOHN IIURLEY, DONALD R. KORST, RAYMOND W. Mo@ro, ROBERT J. RORN, JOHN J. WILL, AND JOHN Loms SUMMARY In a cooperative study by members of the Midwest Cancer Chemotherapy Group, @65patients with neoplastic diseasewere treated with vinblastine to determine its spectrum of activity as an antineoplastic drug. The best and most frequent responses were obtained in patients with Hodgkin's disease, often after they were refractory to currently available modes of therapy. Patients with other types of neoplastic disease occasionally obtained worth-while objective responses with this agent, but these occurred infrequently. VLB is a relatively safe oncolytic agent when used with proper precautions. The dose is variable, and it is suggested that the optimum therapeutic dose is that quantity which will produce mild leukopenia without severely depressing the bone marrow or inducing other side effects. Recovery from leukopenia is usually prompt except with the severest toxicity. Research. on October 25, 2021. © 1963 American Association for Cancer cancerres.aacrjournals.org Downloaded from