Peri-tumor administration of 5-fluorouracil sol-gel using a hollow microneedle for treatment of gastric cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of treating gastric cancer by injecting a pluronic F-127 sol-gel formulation of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) into normal tissue surrounding the tumor using a hollow microneedle. The MTS tetrazolium assay was performed to assess the cytotoxicity of 5-FU after application to gastric cancer cells at different concentrations for 1, 5 and 10?h. Gastric cancer cells were inoculated subcutaneously into 30 male nude mice (CrjBALB/c-nu/nu mice, male); the inoculated mouse were divided into three groups. One group received no treatment, whereas the two other groups received free 5-FU gel (40?mg/kg) and 5-FU gel (40?mg/kg) for 4?days, respectively. Mean tumor volume, apoptotic index (TUNEL) and proliferative index (Ki 67) were evaluated in all groups. Cell viability was 77.3% when 1.22?g of free 5-FU was administered, whereas cell viability was 37.4% and 43.5% when 0.122?g of free 5-FU was administered per hour for 10?h and 0.244?g of free 5-FU was administered for 5?h (p?p?p?