Pentostatin is administered intermittently for a longer treatment duration but may result in a lower incidence of febrile complications.
Accurate targeting also means that doctors can safely deliver more radiation dose per fraction and potentially shorten treatment duration.
Logistic regression was used to explore the effect of total weekly dose, dosing schedule, treatment duration, and outcome on clinical activity.
Studies in which continuation or maintenance chemotherapy were eliminated had outcomes inferior to those with extended treatment durations.
The optimal treatment duration for patients with responsive or stable disease has been studied by several groups.
Some experience with 48 to 60 weeks (15 months) treatment duration has already been gained and no evidence has been seen regarding additional toxicity.
Motivation of patients during the course of treatment (yet another factor in default) can also be maintained if treatment duration is shortened.
The optimal treatment duration is not known.
Therapy is continued for 12 weeks, but treatment duration should be individualized for each patient according to clinical response (90).
Mifepristone has been used to treat Cushing's syndrome with treatment durations being as long as 10 years without noticeable adverse effect.