A technique for isolated liver perfusion in the rat with survival and results of cytotoxic drug perfusion on liver tumor growth.

The toxic side effects of many chemotherapeutic agents prevent their use in high concentrations. Isolated perfusion techniques have been used most commonly for malignancies involving the extremities, but recently also for irresectable liver tumors. This paper describes a technique for in vivo isolated liver perfusion for 30 min with oxygenated blood through the portal vein and hepatic artery simultaneously. There was a 14% mortality rate. There was some initial hepatocellular death, which resolved quickly and did not seriously affect liver function. There was only a small leak from the perfusion system to the systemic circulation. We tested the system on an experimental liver tumor from a colonic adenocarcinoma. Perfusion with added 5-FU in a toxic dose of 70 mg/kg to the medium significantly retarded tumor growth evaluated 10 days after perfusion compared to rats perfused without 5-FU. This model closely resembles the technique applied clinically and will enable further work on effects of perfusion in an experimental rat liver tumor model.