A Pilot Study of Peritumor Administration of 5-FU for Preventing Bleeding in Advanced Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Five-FU is a potent chemotherapeutic agent for suppressing endothelial cell growth. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of local peritumor injection of 5-FU for patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) for the prevention of anemia. Between January 2020 and January 2022, patients aged 18 years or older with AGC and moderate anemia were included. A total of 200 mg of 5-FU was injected per session at ten points of the lesion (20 mg at each point) every 7 days for 4 to 12 weeks. Patients received a blood test for toxicity at every cycle. From one of these patients, endoscopic biopsy specimens were taken from gastric cancer before and after injecting 5-FU for immunostaining. A total of five AGC patients participated in this study. For most patients, hemoglobin levels were maintained without transfusions during 5-FU injection, and expression levels of thrombospondin-1 was increased after injection compared to those before injection. Blood test results during 5-FU injection showed no significant change in serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase/glutamic pyruvic transaminase, total bilirubin, or creatinine level. The results of this study showed the possibility of local peritumor 5-FU injection as a treatment for relieving anemia of patients with gastric cancer.