Isolated lung perfusion with melphalan prolongs survival in a rat model of metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma

Introduction: Survival after isolated lung perfusion (ILuP) with melphalan was tested in a model of unilateral pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Methods: On day 0, rats were randomized into four groups: Group 1 (n = 9) reveived tumor cells intravenously for induction of bilateral lung metastases, whereas groups 2-4 (n = 21) underwent a 10-min occlusion of the right pulmonary artery during tumor cell injection for induction of unilateral left lung metastases. On day 7, groups 1 and 2 received no treatment. Group 3 underwent left ILuP with melphalan (2.0 mg/kg) while group 4 received melphalan intravenously (0.5 mg/kg). The end point of the study was death from metastatic disease. Results: Median survival of ILuP-treated animals (81 +/- 12 days) was significantly longer compared to group 1 (18 +/- 1 days; p = 0.0001), group 2 (28 +/- 3 days; p = 0.0002) and group 4 (37 +/- 6; p = 0.0004). Conclusions: ILuP with melphalan prolongs survival in the treatment of experimental metastatic pulmonary carcinoma.