J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 88(4): 401-412, 1987

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Original article

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON AN ANTICANCER DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM USING POLYLACTIC ACID

The present study was carried out to evaluate a drug delivery system with regard to the sustained drug-release properties and antitumor effects of a unique preparation composed of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and biodegradable polymer, poly L-lactic acid. The composite (F-PLA) was formed into plastic needles designed for the topical application in tumor tissue.
Donryu rats implanted subcutaneously with ascites hepatomas AH 109A and AH 130 were used for the experiments.
Release of the drug from the F-PLA needles containing 50％ w/w 5-FU was maintained for one month or more in rat subcutaneous tissue and for about two weeks in the liver or AH 109A subcutaneous tumor. When the needles were implanted in the liver or AH 109A tumor, 5-FU concentrations in the treated tissues were sustained at high levels, whereas levels in the peripheral blood were very low. Histological-ly, coagulation necrosis of AH 130 tumor tissues was observed widely around the F-PLA needle implant areas.
Meanwhile, in experiments on the antitumor effects of F-PLA preparation in AH 130- or AH 109 A- bearing rats, it was demonstrated that tumor growth in the groups treated with F-PLA needles was significantly suppressed as compared with that in the controls.
The results obtained in this study show that the F-PLA needle can be useful as a drug delivery system in cancer chemotherapy.

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