[Effect of 7-N-(P-hydroxyphenyl)-mitomycin C (KW-2083) against pleuritis carcinomatosa].

Fourteen cases of adenocarcinoma with pleuritis carcinomatosa (lung cancer 10 cases, ovarian cancer 2 cases, colon cancer 2 cases) were treated with intra-pleural instillation of 7-N-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-mitomycin C (KW-2083), a derivative of mitomycin C. KW-2083 was administered at a dose of 40 mg once or twice weekly. In 14 evaluable patients, the rate of decrease of pleural fluid was 79%, and that of disappearance of tumor cells in pleural fluid was 64%. Median survival time (MST) from the beginning of treatment in all cases was 163 days. The toxicities of intrapleural instillation of KW-2083 were chest pain (86%), transient fever (64%), anorexia (64%), fatigability (29%), nausea (21%), vomiting (21%) and thrombocytopenia (nadir: 3.5 X 10(4)/mm3; 7%). Serum and pleural fluid KW-2083 concentrations have been measured in 3 patients after intrapleural administration of KW-2083. The mean half life of KW-2083 in serum and pleural fluid was 74 min (69-78 min) and 56 min (33-70 min), respectively. The peak serum KW-2083 concentration was 0.18 microgram/ml (0.06-0.24 microgram/ml).