Clinical pharmacology of intracarotid etoposide

Summary Pharmacokinetics studies were performed in ten patients who received VP-16 by intracarotid infusion at 100–300 mg/m². VP-16 was analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. ESTRIP and NONLIN were used to characterize VP-16 pharmacokinetics. VP-16 disappeared biphasically, with a t_1/2 of 6.1±1.4 h; the total clearance was 26.8±2.8 ml/min/m², and the V_ss was 8.8±1.6 l/m². The pharmacokinetics was not significantly different after administration by the IV route. However, at a lower dosage, <140 mg/m², the half-life appears to be shorter. This may or may not be significant, since VP-16 pharmacokinetics is quite variable and the number of patients studied is relatively small. Overall, the brain and brain tumor do not appear to have any first-pass effect on VP-16 pharmacokinetics.The study reported in this paper was supported by a grant from Bristol Laboratories, Syracuse, NY