[An autopsy case of rectal cancer receiving cisplatin at total dose of 3.250 mg and platinum concentrations in autopsy tissue samples].

An autopsy case of a 57-year-old man who had received cisplatin, total dose of 3,250 mg (1,920 mg/m2) after proctectomy for advanced rectal cancer with hepatic metastasis is reported. Platinum concentrations in autopsy tissue samples are also reported. Cisplatin at a dose of 20-40 mg was administered intravenously once a week for 82 weeks, but renal failure did not occur. The patient died 529 days after his last cisplatin therapy, due to acute suppurative cholangitis. On autopsy, the hepatic hilar metastasis involved the bile duct, but the other metastasis of the liver became regeneration and necrosis, and the kidneys showed few findings but congestion and arteriosclerotic change. The spleen evidenced mild hemosiderosis. Tissue samples obtained at the time of autopsy were assayed for platinum using flameless atomic absorption spectrometry. The spleen had the highest concentration, about 2.7 times as high as that of the liver. The liver, the heart and the kidneys had high platinum concentrations (greater than 3.04 micrograms/g), but those of the jejunum and the ileum were low (less than 0.95 micrograms/g). Although cisplatin, FT 207 and krestin were effective for the rectal cancer, platinum was undetectable (less than 0.13 micrograms/g) in the ascending and the transverse colons.