Organ distribution of Adriamycin after intravesical instillation with or without Tween 80 in the rat.

The absorption of Adriamycin (ADM) into the systemic circulation and into different organs including the urinary bladder was investigated in the rat after intravesical instillation of ADM with or without a surface active detergent, Tween 80. The postinstillation plasma concentration of ADM increased significantly with increasing dose of the drug. Even though the leakage of ADM into the systemic circulation and into extravesical organs in general was slight a significant increase was observed after addition of Tween 80. The uptake of ADM into the urinary bladder wall was also significantly enhanced by Tween 80 thus the role of this agent in conjunction with intravesical chemotherapy should be further investigated.