Blood flow, vascular resistance and oxygen availability in malignant tumours upon intravenous flunarizine

Tumour blood flow, an important determinant of the efficacy of presently available nonsurgical cancer treatments, significantly increased following a single I.V. injection of the calcium antagonist flunarizine. At a dose of 1 mg/kg, tumour blood flow increased approximately by 28% without a significant change in mean arterial blood pressure. The flow increase was paralleled by a similar improvement of the O2 availability to the cancer cells. The data suggest that flunarizine may provide a means of improving delivery of antineoplastic agents to tumours. Furthermore, flunarizine may also enhance the effectiveness of irradiation by increasing tumour oxygenation.