Abstract
Forty-eight patients with primary lung cancer (adenocarcinoma ; 24 ; epidermoid carcinoma, 12 ; large-cell carcinoma, 7 ; small-cell carcinoma, 5) were treated with bronchial arterial injection (BAI) of adriamycin (ADR) (30-60mg/body).
Serum and tumor tissue concentrations of ADR and the antitumor effects were studied.
1) The half-life of ADR in the serum was 8.5 minutes in the group treated with 30 mg of ADR and 5.8 minutes in that treated with 60 mg of ADR. Thus, ADR disappeared rapidly from the serum.
2) No significant difference in serum concentrations between the group with good response and that with poor response or between the adenocarcinoma group and epidermoid carcinoma group were observed. Seven to 10 days after the BAI, 0.6-3.07μg/g of ADR were found in the tumor tissue in three patients.
3) Thirty-four percent of the 48 patients showed good response on chest x-ray. About 60% of all patients showed improvement on chest x-ray and/ or in subjective symptoms. It was also confirmed that hypervascular type tumors showed good response. No difference in therapeutical effects was observed between the 30 mg group and the 60 mg group.
4) The histological effects were studied in four patients. In three patients, histological improvements were noted, though the degree and distribution of the affected cells varied.
5) As for side effects, the incidence of anorexia and nausea was 25%, while that of depilation and bone marrow disorder was negligible. In conclusion, BAI with 30 mg of ADR produced satisfactory tissue concentrations and good response with the least side effects.
