Effective use of multi-arterial infusion chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients: four clinical...

Arterial infusion chemotherapy is considered to be a treatment option for lung cancer patients who are intolerant of systemic chemotherapy because of an increased risk of severe toxicity. However, a number of major studies regarding arterial infusion chemotherapy for lung cancer have reported disappointing results. We performed arterial infusion chemotherapy for four patients with advanced NSCLC who were unable to receive systemic chemotherapy or radiotherapy. After detecting the feeding arteries precisely by angiography, low-dose chemotherapeutic agents were administrated into the corresponding arteries. In each case, multiple feeding arteries including main feeding arteries other than the bronchial artery were detected and a partial response (PR) was obtained without severe toxicity in all. We consider that the present method is an effective treatment option for lung cancer patients who are restricted from undergoing standard systemic chemotherapy or radiotherapy.