Comparative evaluation of the efficiency of various Ukrain doses in the combined treatment of breast cancer.

Drugs Exp Clin Res. 2000;26(5-6):223-30. Comparative evaluation of the efficiency of various Ukrain doses in the combined treatment of breast cancer. Report 1. Clinical aspects of Ukrain application. Uglyanitsa KN, Nefyodov LI, Brzosko V. Oncology Department, Grodno Higher Medical School, Grodno, Belarus. 75 patients with breast cancer (clinical stages I, II, III, T1-3N0-2M0, ages up to 70 years) were the subject of a controlled clinical study conducted at the University Grodno (Belarus). They were divided into three groups, with 25 patients in each. Those in the first group received UKRAIN prior to their operation in the dosage of 5 mg every second day, to a total dosage of 50 mg, while those in the second group similarly received 10 mg of UKRAIN every second day to a total dosage of 100 mg. Those in the third (control) group were not treated with UKRAIN before their operation. After treatment with UKRAIN, hardening of the tumor, and proliferation of connective tissues were observed. The ratio of T4/T8 lymphocytes increased by 30%. Eight to ten weeks after surgery, levels of ESR (a blood test to monitor inflammation in the body, which routinely increases after an operation) were found to be little more than half as high in the groups that had received UKRAIN, compared with the control group. This indicated faster post-operational healing and improvement in general condition of patients from the groups receiving UKRAIN. The patients who were treated with a higher dosage of UKRAIN reported slight pain in the cancer area, and a slight increase in fever. However, faster tumour remission was observed in these patients. The tumours appeared harder and slightly enlarged after UKRAIN therapy, and were easier to detect by ultrasound or radiological examination. Metastatic lymph nodes were also hardened and sclerotic (fibrous). Through this hardening process under the influence of UKRAIN, tumours and metastatic lymph nodes were clearly demarcated from healthy tissue and therefore easier to remove. Complications such as prolonged lymphorrhoea (leakage of lymph), skin necrosis (death of skin tissue), suppuration of the wound, and pneumonia, all occurred in patients from the two UKRAIN groups at only half the rate than they appeared in patients from the control group. Based on the results of this study the scientists from the Medical University Grodno recommended the use of UKRAIN, at the higher dosage, before all breast cancer operations.