Bleomycin Chemotherapy focuses on the clinical uses of bleomycin. Bleomycin, a group of glycopeptides isolated from Streptomyces verticillus, has a unique structure and mechanism of action among anticancer drugs. The drug’s remarkable lack of bone marrow toxicity prompted its addition to myelosuppressive regimens and enabled treatment of patients with compromised hematopoietic function. Bleomycin is an integral component of one of the great triumphs of medical oncology—the curative treatment of metastatic testicular carcinomas. Similar curative potential has been demonstrated for bleomycin in combination with cisplatin and vinblastine in germ-cell cancers of the ovary. Bleomycin is included in several important treatment regimens for Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The drug also has clinical activity against squamous carcinomas of various sites. These uses and other aspects, including the development of new bleomycin analogs, are discussed in the following chapters, which were first presented at a symposium jointly sponsored by the Northern California Cancer Program and Bristol Laboratories in San Francisco, California, 14-15 September 1984.
