Intraarterial infusion chemotherapy for metastatic liver tumors using multiple anti-cancer agents suspended in a lipid contrast medium.

An ethiodized oil, Lipiodol (Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, Laboratoire Guerbet, Paris, France), when injected into the hepatic artery, is selectively retained by liver tumors. Thus, anti-cancer agents suspended in Lipiodol can be delivered specifically to liver tumors. Before clinical trials of this new drug delivery system were begun, the movements of drugs suspended in Lipiodol were examined in vitro. It was found that 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and mitomycin C were continuously released from oil phase to water phase, and when these three drugs were collectively suspended in Lipiodol, each was released independently. During clinical investigations, 42 patients with unresectable metastatic liver tumors were treated with intraarterial infusions of anti-cancer drugs in Lipiodol. As a result, the administration of a combination of anti-cancer agents suspended in Lipiodol was shown to be effective in controlling metastatic liver tumors. It was concluded that such a method could be applied to a variety of metastatic liver tumors with different drug sensitivities.