Randomized trials of amifostine and radiotherapy: Effect on survival?

Amifostine (Ethyol; MedImmune Inc, Gaithersburg, MD) is a cytoprotective and radioprotective agent for normal tissues against the deleterious effects of chemotherapeutic agents and/or ionizing radiation. We have compiled a unique database for meta-analyis that aims to address the controversial concept of the tumor protection. The proposed meta-analysis on survival outcome, which is based on individual patient data, will be more useful than literature-based meta-analyses because of the superiority of reliable, longer follow-up patient data. It will be also possible to study the effect(s) of amifostine in different tumor types.