Arterial chemoembolization with cisplatin microcapsules.

Cisplatin (CDDP) was microcapsulated with ethylcellulose. Sustained release of CDDP from the microcapsule, particularly non-protein-bound CDDP, which should have antitumour activity, was demonstrated by an in vitro test. Using a bioassay, it was proven that the biological activity of CDDP was not affected by the microencapsulation process. When CDDP-mc were infused into the maxillary artery of patients with carcinoma of the maxillary sinus or oral cavity, the CDDP level in the circulating blood was significantly lower than that of the patients given non-encapsulated CDDP intravenously. However, a significantly higher CDDP concentration in tumour tissue was found in patients treated with CDDP-mc. These results suggest that selective arterial infusion of CDDP-mc could exert intensive topical antitumour effects on lesions through microinfarction effects, and prolonged drug release, with minimum systemic side effects.