[Results of a cooperative clinical study of the Russian antineoplastic antibiotic bleomycetin].

Cooperative clinical trials of a newly-developed antibiotic--bleomycetin (a purified fraction of bleomycin A5) conducted in 172 patients at 7 oncological centers revealed a spectrum of antitumor activities similar to that displayed by Japanese-made bleomycin. When administered by intravenous or intramuscular injection in single or total doses amounting to only 50-70% of those of bleomycin (bleocin), bleomycetin proved effective in the treatment of extended squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, skin, cervix uteri, embryonal cancer of the testicle and, particularly, recurrent Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Single administration of 15-50 mg bleomycetin (total dose--50-150 mg) to serous cavities was followed by the cure of specific pleurisy and ascites in 47%. Unlike bleomycin, bleomycetin treatment was free of pulmonary toxicity, and skin hyperpigmentation, hyperkeratosis, vomiting and alopecia were significantly less frequent.