Intraperitoneal chemotherapy as treatment for ovarian carcinoma and gastrointestinal malignancies: the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center experience).

Overview

Several different chemotherapy trials via either combined systemic and intraperitoneal or only via the intraperitoneal route were investigated. The administration of systemically and intraperitoneally infused 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in patients with ovarial carcinoma did not shown in any patient a complete or partial remission, but showed severe side effects. In a patient with a metastasizing adeno carcinoma of the appendix this chemotherapy protocol led to a complete remission. Investigations with intraperitoneally infused cisplatin showed that 50% of all patients came into remission with tumor nodules less than 0.5 cm, but showed only 20% objective remissions in patients with tumor nodules greater than 0.5 cm. The intraperitoneal administration of mitoxantrone showed in several patients with cisplatin refractory ovarial carcinoma tumor remission with, however, severe local toxicity.