Jeanne C. Bateman

Use of intra-arterial nitrogen mustard therapy in the treatment of cervical and vaginal cancer

Abstract The local administration of nitrogen mustard (methyl-bis [B-chloroethyl amine] hydrochloride) has resulted in partial regression of malignant tumors which are not amenable to intravenously administered drug. 1, 2. 3 This therapeutic effect has usually been obtained by repeated injections of the chemotherapeutic agent over a prolonged period of time, through a cannula inserted directly into the artery which supplies the tumor region. This is a study of the immediate effects of HN 2 given by intra-arterial injection in cases of carcinoma of the cervix and vagina.

Some aspects of the clinical use of nitrogen mustards.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the action of methyl-bis-(β-chloroethyl)amine (HN 2 ) on humans. The effects produced by the administration of HN 2 are discussed in terms of organ, system, or general metabolic effects. Like sulfur mustard, HN 2 when applied directly, has a vesicant necrotizing action on the skin. The severity is roughly dependent on the concentration of the applied drug and the duration of contact with the skin. Following intravascular injection, the compound undergoes intramolecular cyclization in the polar solvent, plasma, to form a cyclic ethylenimonium compound. During the intravenous administration of HN 2 , the capillary bed of the lung is the first to be traversed by the drug. Standard courses of HN 2 have no demonstrable effect on normal kidney structures and renal function as determined by routine studies and tests. The intravenous administration of usual amounts of HN 2 has no apparent effect on either the peripheral or central nervous system. The therapeutic application of HN 2 has been limited by the poisonous effect of this agent on the host as well as on the tumor.