[Treatment of brain tumors with anticancer pellet--experimental and clinical study (author's transl)]

Eighty three patients suffering from brain tumors have been treated by anticancer pellets containing 5-FU, urokinase, mitomycin and BUdR in dimethylsiloxan (Silastic) for three years. Constant and prolonged release of the chemicals from the anticancer pellet had already been proved in vitro. The amount of daily release were 1-3/1,000 of original volume. Tissue concentration of 5-FU was measured by bioassay system using staphylococcus 209 P strain with plate dilution method. In spite of the rapid disappearance of serum 5-FU, the local high accumulation of 5-FU was demonstrated in vivo. In rat neurogenic tumor, 1.104 microgram/g was detected on 60 days after the application of anticancer pellet containing 500 mg of 5-FU. The growth of tumor was also suppressed. The clinical study consists of 83 patients, 30 of glioblastoma, 19 of metastatic brain tumor, 13 of astrocytoma, 7 of oligodendroglioma, 4 of ependymoblastoma, 4 of malignant lymphoma and 6 of others. The median survival time of gliblastoma was prolonged to 71.5 weeks by the implantation of anticancer pellet from 40 weeks of control group. However, the median survival time of astrocytoma and metastatic brain tumor were 24 and 6 months, respectively, which have no significant difference from control groups. In the patients of metastatic brain tumor, the regrowth of metastatic foci in the brain was completely suppressed. However, most of them were succumbed from the original tumors. The concentration of 5-FU in several human tissue was measured in ten patients with different time intervals after the implantation of the anticancer pellet. Although they have different histologic patterns, the concentrations of 5-FU in human brain tumors were ranged from 0.05 to 0.67 microgram/g by 14 months after the implantation of the anticancer pellet. The adjacent cystic fluids also contain from 0.62 to 4.9 microgram/ml of 5-FU for two years. These results mean that they are keeping higher level of 5-FU than the tumoricidal level of 5-FU (0.056 microgram/g) for more than two years. On the other hand, no respective accumulation was demonstrated in other tissues. None of the patients showed any adverse reactions except a continuous slight fever up to 38 degrees C.