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ORIGINAL ARTICLES |
From the Departments of Surgery (SKH, FRS, TWB, DLF) , Radiation Oncology (SMH, TZ, EG), and Obstetrics and Gynecology (SCR), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Correspondence: Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Douglas L. Fraker, University of Pennsylvania Department of Surgery, 3400 Spruce Street, 4 Silverstein, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Fax: 215- 614-0765.
| ABSTRACT |
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METHODS: Fifty-six patients were enrolled between April 1997 and January 2000. Patients were given Photofrin (2.5 mg/kg) intravenously 2 days before tumor-debulking surgery. Laser light was delivered to all peritoneal surfaces. Patients were followed with CT scans and laparoscopy to evaluate responses to treatment.
RESULTS: Forty-two patients were adequately debulked at surgery; these comprise the treatment group. There were 14 GI malignancies, 12 ovarian cancers and 15 sarcomas. Actuarial median survival was 21 months. Median time to recurrence was 3 months (range, 121 months). The most common serious toxicities were anemia (38%), liver function test (LFT) abnormalities (26%), and gastrointestinal toxicities(19%), and one patient died.
CONCLUSIONS: Photofrin PDT for carcinomatosis has been successfully administered to 42 patients, with acceptable toxicity. The median survival of 21 months exceeds our expectations; however, the relative contribution of surgical resection versus PDT is unknown. Deficiencies in photosensitizer delivery, tissue oxygenation, or laser light distribution leading to recurrences may be addressed through the future use of new photosensitizers.
Key Words: Photodynamic therapy Carcinomatosis Sarcomatosis Photofrin Ovarian cancer.
| INTRODUCTION |
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Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a novel anticancer treatment that combines photosensitizer drug, oxygen, and laser light to kill tumor cells on surfaces.4,5 The most common photosensitizer agent currently in use is Photofrin, a purified form of hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD). Its mechanism of action is the formation of oxygen free radical compounds after activation by a particular wavelength of light, resulting in direct cytotoxicity and microvascular damage.6 The ideal photosensitizer localizes to tumor tissue in higher concentrations than in nearby normal tissues, and preclinical research with HPD and Photofrin has shown tumor localization of these compounds.7 Although the photosensitizer drug is administered systemically, the cytotoxic effect is limited to those tissues exposed to the activating light dose. The depth of penetration varies with the wavelength of light, but usually is in the range of a few millimeters. Thus, PDT theoretically is an ideal therapy for the peritoneal surface disease that characterizes carcinomatosis and sarcomatosis. This therapy has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of obstructing esophageal and lung cancers, and is under study in cutaneous, bladder, pleural, and head and neck cancers, all of which are surface malignancies.
In the mid-1980s, preclinical work using Photofrin PDT in a mouse ovarian teratoma model of carcinomatosis resulted in cures of the otherwise lethal cancer.8,9 Based on this preclinical work and toxicity studies in large animals, a Phase I trial at the National Cancer Institute enrolled 54 human patients with carcinomatosis and sarcomatosis.10,11 Using escalating light and drug dosing, the dose-limiting toxicities were found to be bowel perforation and fistula formation. Laser wavelength and light and drug dose modifications, particularly in treating the bowel, resulted in acceptable toxicity. Although this Phase I trial was not designed to determine effectiveness, the patient outcomes were extremely suggestive of therapeutic benefit, with over 60% survival at 3 years and at least four patients with prolonged disease-free survival. This is the initial report of our phase II trial utilizing the maximal tolerated doses of photosensitizer and light defined in the Phase I trial, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of PDT in patients with carcinomatosis or sarcomatosis.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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At laparotomy, tumor was debulked to a thickness of 5 mm or less. Organ resections required to achieve this debulking were performed, although nodules were resected from organ surfaces where feasible. Peritoneal stripping was performed as needed to remove gross tumor nodules but was not performed for microscopic disease. Complete lysis of adhesions was required to allow light delivery to all surfaces and to remove all gross disease wherever possible. Patients without diffuse carcinomatosis or patients whose tumors could not be debulked to 5 mm maximal tumor thickness did not receive laser light treatment and were considered to be off study.
Laser light was delivered to all peritoneal surfaces by the radiation oncology and physics staff using defined doses and wavelengths from the Phase I trial. First, 532-nanometer (nm) wavelength (green) light was administered to the small bowel, bowel mesentery, and colon in segments at a dose (fluence) of 2.5 J/cm2 using a flat-cut optical fiber (Laserscope Inc., San Jose, CA) suspended over the operating table. The light dose was monitored using a mobile photodiode held over the treatment area. Then the other peritoneal surfaces were treated with 630-nm (red) laser light delivered with a fiber enclosed in an intralipid-filled, modified endotracheal tube. The peritoneum also was filled with a solution of 0.01% intralipid containing calcium and magnesium, and the endotracheal tube was submerged within the solution. Care was taken to avoid contamination of the solution with blood, because this results in absorption of the laser light and reduction in the delivered dose rate. Five temporarily implanted photodiodes and one mobile photodiode were used to measure the light dose delivered to each peritoneal region. The fluences used for each area of the peritoneum were as follows: stomach, 5 J/cm2; diaphragms, liver, and spleen, 7.5 J/cm2; and pelvis and peritoneal gutters, 10 J/cm2. Focal areas of the peritoneum with severe tumor involvement were treated with "boost" doses of 630-nm laser light. The laser equipment used consisted of a KTP/532 Laser System and a 630 x P Dye Module (Laserscope Inc., San Jose, CA).
After light treatment, the abdomen was copiously irrigated. Bowel anastomoses (if necessary) were performed at that time, and closure was completed. Postoperative care consisted of admission to the intensive care unit and close hemodynamic monitoring, with resuscitation as required. Perioperative toxicity was monitored using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cooperative Group Common Toxicity Criteria. Some delayed toxicities, such as small bowel obstruction and hydronephrosis, also were included in the toxicity analysis, especially if the toxicity necessitated readmission.
Patient Follow-up and Statistical Analysis
Patients were followed with clinical exams, computed tomography (CT) scans, and laparoscopy to evaluate responses to treatment. Patient follow-up visits were scheduled for 1 month and 3 months postoperatively, and every 3 months thereafter. CT scans were performed every 3 months, and laparoscopic evaluation was offered at the 6-month follow-up to every patient who was CT scan-negative for recurrence. Patients were considered "off study" at the time of radiographic or biopsy-proven recurrence, and alternative therapies were allowed thereafter. Retreatment with the PDT protocol was allowed for three patients who developed recurrences after a long disease-free interval. Only the first treatment of these retreated patients was included in this toxicity and outcome analysis. Time to recurrence and survival were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve also was constructed comparing patients who had all gross disease resected versus those with residual gross disease before light therapy.
| RESULTS |
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The 42 patients who made up the treatment group are the focus of the following results. The average age of the treatment group was 48.8 years (range, 2170 years). The gender distribution was 30 women and 12 men. Ninety-five percent had previous surgical resection, and over 60% had previous chemotherapy (data not shown). The histologies of the treatment group are displayed in detail in Table 2. When available, the pathology reports from the patients initial surgical resection (often at another institution) were reviewed by our pathologists, and these results are shown. In several cases, the pathology report from our surgical resection was used. Fourteen patients had GI malignancies (colon [6 patients], appendiceal mucinous adenocarcinoma with malignant features [3 patients], gastric [2 patients], pseudomyxoma peritonei [1 patient], 1 poorly-differentiated carcinoma of unknown primary [1 patient], and adenocarcinoid [1 patient]), 12 patients had ovarian cancers, 15 patients had sarcomas. and 1 patient had peritoneal malignant mesothelioma.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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Although most of these patients have recurred, many are clinically well for long intervals after therapy, and several have had prolonged disease-free survival. Our aggressive approach for identifying early recurrences, i.e., CT scans every 3 months and laparoscopy at 6 months, has contributed to our large proportion of early recurrences. For example, one patient with colon cancer had peritoneal implants smaller than 5 mm at 6-month laparoscopy, but at 26 months of follow-up is still clinically well. Nonetheless, this patient is counted as a 6-month recurrence.
The toxicity profile of our treated patients compares favorably with the toxicities seen from extensive debulking procedures in general and other experimental treatments for carcinomatosis in particular.2,3 The most common serious toxicities were anemia, transient LFT abnormalities, and bowel obstruction or other GI abnormalities. The one treatment death occurred in one of our earliest patients due to an acute myocardial infarction. Thereafter, with aggressive pretreatment cardiac screening, our cardiovascular morbidity has been minimal. Many of our toxicities can be related directly to the organ resections performed or to the underlying diagnosis of malignancy, such as the incidence of DVT, PE, diarrhea, and transient metabolic and hemodynamic abnormalities.
The toxicities that can be attributed specifically to the photodynamic therapy include (1) the capillary leak syndrome, with its attendant perioperative requirement for volume resuscitation and (2) the elevated frequency of hydronephrosis, which may be due to retroperitoneal scarring from the therapy. It is worth noting that there were no bowel perforations, given that this was the primary dose-limiting toxicity in the Phase I trial, although there were two fistulas. It is also worth commenting that no serious skin toxicities have occurred in follow-up, despite the long half-life of our current photosensitizer agent.
The obvious limitation in interpretation of these data is the lack of a debulking-only control group. Unfortunately, we must rely on historical data in order to determine whether our survival exceeds that expected for this population of patients. Limited data are available regarding this patient population, partly because debulking surgery is not routinely performed except in ovarian cancer, and partly because this patient population has an extremely heterogeneous natural history. Several recent studies focusing on carcinomatosis from gastrointestinal primaries have attempted to characterize the natural history of this disease.1,2 Medial survivals of 3.1 to 6.7 months were reported for patients with carcinomatosis, but some patients with hematogenous metastases were included in these analyses. Our patient population is exceedingly heterogeneous due to the open enrollment criteria for this trial, and future reports likely will focus on subgroup analysis in an effort to direct this therapy to those patients most likely to benefit. These early data reveal an association between the ability to be completely resected free of gross disease and survival, but it fails to reveal a survival advantage for any broad histologic group.
So far, our outcome analysis has focused on disease-free interval and survival; however, these may not be the most appropriate outcome measures for our patient population. Although we have not yet formally evaluated PDT as a palliative therapy, many of our patients have experienced an improved quality of life after hospital discharge, in terms of gastrointestinal function, resolution of ascites, improved energy level, and overall sense of well being. Obviously the toxicity of the procedure must be weighed against the benefits observed, and a formal evaluation of non-survival outcomes should be undertaken.
Several other trials are underway using local therapies for disseminated intraperitoneal cancer.3,1216 Investigators conducting trials with hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion, radical peritonectomy, intraperitoneal chemotherapy, and intraperitoneal immunotherapy also are approaching carcinomatosis and sarcomatosis as a "surface problem." Loggie and colleagues recently have reported the results of mitomycin C hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion following surgical debulking in 84 patients with gastrointestinal carcinomatosis.16 Their results are remarkably similar to ours; they found an overall median survival of 14.3 months and improved survival in those patients able to be completely resected. These encouraging results validate the surgical oncology communitys ongoing efforts to aggressively treat carcinomatosis with surface modalities.
In summary, Photofrin PDT for carcinomatosis has been successfully administered to 42 patients in our phase II trial, with acceptable toxicity. The median survival of 21 months exceeds our expectations, given the aggressive diseases of our patient population; however, the relative contribution of surgical resection versus photodynamic therapy is unknown. Disease recurrences may be due to deficiencies in photosensitizer delivery or localization, tissue oxygenation, or laser light distribution. Ongoing research in the preclinical setting is addressing these issues with new, "second generation" photosensitizer agents. These agents will have a shorter half-life and better tumor localization, potentially overcoming our current limitations.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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Received for publication May 23, 2000. Accepted for publication August 18, 2000.
| REFERENCES |
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