High-dose methotrexate in osteogenic sarcoma.

From 1972 to 1979, high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) and 3 adjuvant regimens were used at the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Medical Center. In the first regiment, HDMTX was used alone; the second, HDMTX and adriamycin, and the third, weekly courses of HDMTX and combination. Actuarial disease-free survival achieved with these regimens in patient with local control of the primary lesion varied from 42 to 75% at 3 years. This compared favorably with historical control patients, of whom 50% were free of disease at 6 months and only 20% at 12 months. Among 41 patients with established pulmonary metastases, 14 were alive and free of disease from more than 4 to over 60 months. The most efficacious method of administering HDMTX was a weekly schedule which produced an overall response rate of 48% in the treatment of pulmonary metastases and primary tumor in patients previously not exposed to HDMTX. Urinary alkalinization was not a standard procedure, and investigations failed to demonstrate any significant effect of alkalinization on HDMTX pharmacokinetics.