[The locoregional treatment of neoplastic ascites with interferon-beta]

Peritoneal effusion recurrence is one of the most important problem in the palliative management of patients with gastrointestinal malignancies and ovarian cancer. Ten patients with recurrent malignant ascites (three with ovarian cancer, two with pancreas cancer, two with gastric adenocarcinoma and one affected by colon cancer, one patient with peritoneal carcinomatosis, one subject with pleural mesothelioma surgically treated that after three years showed a peritoneal metastases and ascites), were treated with intraperitoneal beta interferon. In all patients a Tenckoff's catheter for peritoneal dialysis was introduced and peritoneal effusion extracted and measured. Three millions of beta interferon in saline solution was infused in peritoneal cavity every three days for nine days. Successively twenty millions every three days for nine days. In the 50% of patients a significant reduction of peritoneal effusion was observed. The locoregional therapy with beta interferon is proposed in palliative management of malignant ascites.