Investigation about the penetration depth in the normal bladder wall and tumor by local instillation of mitomycin into the urinary bladder.

The penetration depth of mitomycin into the normal urinary bladder wall and tumor was determined in 21 bladder tumor patients. Either 20 mg mitomycin/20 ml distilled water or 40 mg/40 ml distilled water was locally instilled into the bladder with a catheter after emptying it and was left for about 25-l20 min. The individual concentrations of mitomycin within the various bladder layers (epithelial, lamina propria, up to the middle of the musculature) were determined with a thin-layer cup method specially modified for these investigations. The results show a high scatter of resorption from 2 up to 442 micrograms of mitomycin/g dry weight. With this method, mitomycin could be determined in the bladder musculature.