Lung perfusion with chemotherapy in patients with unresectable metastatic sarcoma to the lung or diffuse bronchioloalveolar carcinoma.

Eight patients with metastatic sarcoma to the lung (n = 4) or diffuse bronchioloalveolar carcinoma of the lung (n = 4) underwent isolated lung perfusion with chemotherapy in a pilot study. Ages ranged from 18 to 60 years and half were female. The left lung was perfused in three patients (single lung perfusion) and both lungs in five patients (total lung perfusion). Perfusions ranged from 45 to 60 minutes at ambient or normothermic temperatures. One patient received perfusion at moderate hyperthermia (40 degrees C). Escalating doses of doxorubicin (1 to 10 micrograms/ml perfusate) was used in six patients, whereas two received cisplatin (14 and 20 micrograms/ml perfusate). There were two major complications and no objective responses. The isolated perfusion systems gave excellent separation between systemic and pulmonary circulations with zero to 15% of the measured peak drug concentration of the pulmonary perfusate detected in the systemic circulation. Drug concentrations in normal lung and tumor generally increased with higher drug dosages and drug was detectable in mediastinal lymph nodes of three out of four patients in whom sampling was done. Isolated lung perfusion with chemotherapy can be done safely in patients with lung malignancies and evidence suggests that higher drug dosages should be well tolerated.