An improved method of delivering a sclerosing agent for the treatment of malignant pleural effusion

Abstract

Abstract Background Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a devastating sequela associated with cancer. Talc pleurodesis is a common treatment strategy for MPE but has been estimated to be unsuccessful in up to 20–50% of patients. Clinical failure of talc pleurodesis is thought to be due to poor dispersion. This monograph reports the development of a foam delivery system designed to more effectively coat the pleural cavity. Methods C57BL/6 mice were injected with Lewis lung carcinoma (LL/2) cells intrapleurally to induce MPE. The mice then received either normal saline (NS) control, foam control (F), talc slurry (TS, 2 mg/g) or talc foam (TF, 2 mg/g). Airspace volume was evaluated by CT, lungs/pleura were collected, and percent fibrosis was determined. Results The TF group had significantly better survival than the TS group (21 vs 13.5 days, p 0.05). Conclusions This report describes using a novel talc foam delivery system for the treatment of MPE. In the LL/2 model, mice treated with the TF had better survival outcomes and less reduction of lung volume than mice treated with the standard of care TS. These data provide support for translational efforts to move talc foam from animal models into clinical trials.

Keywords

• Lung cancer
• Metastatic cancer
• Talc
• Pleurodesis
• Malignant pleural effusion
• Mouse model