Abstract
This study was conducted in male Donryu rats to investigate the role of portal vein chemotherapy for prevention of liver metastasis. Continuous mesenteric venous infusion of 5-Fu (20 mg/kg/day) resulted in a high portal vein level (5.3±1.3μg/ml) and a low caudal vein level (0.41±0.12 μg/ml) of 5-Fu, whereas a low portal vein level (0.62±0.23 μg/ml) and a high caudal vein level (0.91±0.31 μg/ml) were detected 6 hours after continuous femoral venous infusion. To evaluate the ability to prevent liver metastasis, Donryu rats (180-200 g) receiving intraportal inoculation of ascites hepatoma AH60C (4×106 cells) were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Group A; continuous portal venous infusion of 5-Fu (20 mg/kg/day) + heparin (100 u/kg/day). Group B; continuous femoral venous infusion of 5-Fu+ heparin. Group C; continuous portal vein infusion of. heparin. Group D; Control. Infusion was started on the same day as tumor inoculation and maintained for 5 days. The volume of metastases on day 21 was calculated in each group. The tumor volume of Group A exclusively showed statistically significant reduction compared with that of the other groups. In conclusion, continuous portal venous infusion of 5-Fu was considered to be effective against liver metastasis by preventing the lodging of tumor cells in the intrahepatic portal system.
