Experimental study on intraperitoneal versus intravenous CPT-11 for peritoneal seeding and liver metastasis

Paclitaxel is an effective antitumor agent that shows ideal pharmacological characteristics for intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Intraperitoneal administration of this agent was compared with intravenous administration in mouse models of peritoneal seeding and liver metastasis. The peritoneal seeding model and liver metastasis model were established by inoculation of Colon 26 tumor cells into the peritoneal cavity and spleen of female BALB/c mice, respectively. Paclitaxel (20 mg/kg) was injected into the peritoneal seeding model intraperitoneally or intravenously on day 2 and 4 after inoculation of tumor cells. Paclitaxel (30 mg/kg) was injected into the liver metastasis model intraperitoneally and intravenously on days 4 and 8 after inoculation of tumor cells. Median survival time for intraperitoneal administration (17.50 +/- 0.86 days) was longer than that for intravenous administration (13.70 +/- 0.47 days) in the peritoneal seeding model experiment. Median survival time for intraperitoneal administration (19.78 +/- 0.74 days) was longer than that for intravenous administration (17.50 +/- 0.54 days) in the liver metastasis model experiment. Intraperitoneal administration of paclitaxel may be a more efficient form of adjuvant chemotherapy for prevention of both peritoneal seeding and liver metastasis in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.