Novel gelatin-adriamycin sustained drug release system for intravesical therapy of bladder cancer

To reduce recurrence in the patients with bladder cancer after tumor removal through open surgery or transurethral resection, a form of gelatin-adriamycin sustained drug release system was developed and its release kinetics bothin vitro andin vivo, its efficacy in inhibiting BIU-87 bladder tumor cell growthin vitro and its safetyin vivo were studied. The results showed that this system controlled adriamycin release over a period of 21 daysin vitro and significantly inhibited BIU-87 cell growth. When this system was injected into rabbit bladder, it sustained adriamycin release for 12 days and the released drug could diffuse 1 cm around the injection point. No major complications were observed except minor acute nonspecific cystitis that could be tolerated well by the animals. This study suggests the possibility of applying this system locally in treating bladder cancer.