Clinical evaluation of chemotherapy under angiotensin II-induced hypertension in patients with advanced cancer.

The clinical efficacy and indications for Angiotensin II (AT II)-induced hypertension chemotherapy were evaluated as a drug delivery system in 101 patients with advanced carcinoma. The sites of primary tumor studied included stomach (44), pancreas (18), colon (16), esophagus (6), bile duct (4), liver (3), breast (7) and 3 other single organs. Seventy four cases had distant metastases (lymph node (25), liver (29), peritoneum (16), and lung (4)). Additionally, the protocol was used 12 cases as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and 15 cases following exploratory laparotomy. The blood pressure was elevated to a level 1.5 times base-line. The regimens used consisted of MMC + ADR (55), FAM (38) and CDDP (8). The dosages administered were MMC 7 mg/m2, ADR 14 mg/m2 and 5-FU 350 mg/m2. The cancer chemotherapy protocol with AT II was repeated for an average of 2.6 cycles with a 2-3 week interval. The drug concentration in tumor tissues was increased 1.7 fold by AT II treatment. The response rate was 15.8% (CR 7 and PR 9), and in those patients with lymph node, liver and peritoneal metastases was 48.0, 6.9 and 6.3%, respectively. The serum levels of tumor markers decreased in 9 patients. Subjective symptoms, such as hoarseness, edema and pain, were improved. The mean survival in patients with distant metastasis who responded was 343 days, and in nonresponders was only 168 days (p less than 0.05). The side effects of this therapy were slight, typically being grade 1 and 2. Thus, the chemotherapeutic agents studied in conjunction with AT II were effective in patients with lymph node metastasis. Additionally, this regimen could be performed safely with minimal side effects.