Tissue concentration of 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyladriamycin in renal cell carcinoma and urinary bladder tumor]

Each of 5 patients with renal cell carcinoma and urinary bladder tumor who were operated on at the department of urology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals, received 20 mg of 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyladriamycin (THP) intravenously at the beginning of surgery. Heparinized peripheral blood samples were collected at regular intervals and separated in plasma and blood cell fractions by centrifugation for the estimation of THP. The THP concentration of the surgical specimen was also studied. In renal cell carcinoma, the surgical specimen was divided into cytoplasm and nuclear fractions, and the THP concentration in each fraction was measured. The THP concentration gradually decreased in the plasma and blood cell fractions with passage of time after the administration in both renal cell carcinoma and urinary bladder tumor. In renal cell carcinoma, although the tumor revealed a lower concentration of THP compared with the normal renal cortex and medulla, the nuclear fraction of the tumor showed a higher concentration than those of the normal renal cortex and medulla. In contrast to renal cell carcinoma, the THP concentration of the urinary bladder tumor was found to be higher than those of the normal urinary bladder mucosa and muscle.