Use of lipoteichoic acid-T for pleurodesis in malignant pleural effusion: a phase I toxicity and dose-escalation study

New agents for pleurodesis

“…Starting seven days after LTA-T administration the pleural catheter was not used unless it was needed. Over the next three weeks only three patients needed to have their pleural fluid drained and after this time 12 of the 13 patients did not require drainage [39]. The results of this study are encouraging and suggest the LTA-T may become an effective adjunct to treatment with indwelling catheters.…”

“…There have been no animal studies evaluating this agent. There has been one paper [39] that evaluated the efficacy of this compound in inducing pleurodesis. In this phase one study, 14 patients were given one dose of LTA-T after having an indwelling catheter in place for seven days.…”

“…In this phase one study, 14 patients were given one dose of LTA-T after having an indwelling catheter in place for seven days. Three patients each received 250, 375, 750, and 1500 μg and one patient received 3000 μg [39]. The patient that received 3000 μg developed a systemic inflammatory reaction probably attributable to the trial drug and needed hospitalization [39].…”

“…Three patients each received 250, 375, 750, and 1500 μg and one patient received 3000 μg [39]. The patient that received 3000 μg developed a systemic inflammatory reaction probably attributable to the trial drug and needed hospitalization [39]. Otherwise there were no other significant adverse effects except for a small but significant increase in peripheral WBC.…”

Total synthesis of biologically active lipoteichoic acids

“…10,[42][43][44] Therefore, LTA-T and its analogues ( Figure 5) were synthesized for LUNAMed AG, Switzerland to run the biological tests in vivo, including induce cytokine production, therapy or control malignant pleural effusion (pleurodesis). So far no biological data have been published.…”