Background
Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) has been introduced as palliative therapy for treating peritoneal metastasis (PM) of solid tumors. However, restricted use in the limited countries and the uneven distribution and penetration in various regions of the peritoneal cavity ac as disadvantages of PIPAC. Thus, the KOrean Rotational Intraperitoneal pressurized Aerosol chemotherapy (KORIA) trial group developed rotational intraperitoneal pressurized aerosol chemotherapy (RIPAC) for enhancing drug delivery into the peritoneum to treat PM, and evaluated the drug distribution, tissue concentrations, penetration depth, pharmacokinetic properties, and toxicities after RIPAC with doxorubicin in pigs.
Methods
For delivering doxorubicin as aerosols, we used our prototype for PIPAC, which sprayed about 30-µm sized droplets through the nozzle. The mean diameter of the sprayed region was 18.5 cm, and the penetration depth ranged from 360 to 520 µm, comparable to the microinjection pump (Capnopen®; Capnomed, Villingendorf, Germany). For RIPAC, a conical pendulum motion device was added to PIPAC for rotating the nozzle. RIPAC and PIPAC were conducted using 150 ml of 1% methylene blue to evaluate drug distribution and 3.5 mg of doxorubicin in 50 ml of 0.9% NaCl to evaluate tissue concentration and penetration depth, pharmacokinetic properties, and toxicities. All agents were sprayed as aerosols via the nozzle with a velocity of 5 km/h at a flow rate of 30 ml/min under a pressure of 7 bars, and capnoperitoneum of 12 mmHg was maintained for 30 minutes. As a control, we conducted early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC) using 1% methylene blue solution with an infusion flow rate of 100 ml/min for 30 minutes and the drainage of 1 L every 10 minutes.
Results
RIPAC showed a wider distribution and stronger intensity than EPIC and PIPAC. Moreover, the tissue concentration and penetration depth of doxorubicin were higher in RIPAC than in PIPAC. In RIPAC, the pharmacokinetic properties reflected hemodynamic changes during capnoperitoneum, and there were no renal and hepatic toxicities related to RIPAC using doxorubicin.
Conclusions
RIPAC may have the potential to enhance drug delivery into the peritoneum compared to PIPAC.