Anal submucosal injection: a new route for drug administration in pelvic malignancies. Part I. Experimental study of misonidazole distribution in serum and tissues, with special reference to urinary bladder. Preliminary report

Anal submucosal injection: a novel modality for the treatment of advanced rectal cancer

AIMS

To investigate the efficacy of methotrexate (MTX) submucosal anal injection in the treatment of advanced rectal cancer.

METHODS

Thirty-six patients (age 36-66 years; 21 men, 15 women; 20 patients with stage T3N1M0 and 16 with T4N1M1 rectal cancer) were injected with MTX in the anal submucosa. A comparative group of eight patients (age 38-62 years: five men, three women; four with T3N1M0 and four with T4N1M1 rectal cancer) was injected with MTX intravenously. The dose in both groups was 100 mg every 5 days for five consecutive doses and the course was repeated at 3-week intervals. MTX serum and tumour concentrations were estimated 30 and 60 min after MTX injection. The patients received MTX as outpatients.

RESULTS

In the anal group, six of 20 patients with T3 tumour showed complete tumour regression and were alive 28-46 months after the start of the treatment. Partial response occurred in 25 patients: 14 of stage T3 and 11 of T4. The 14 T3 patients underwent combined excision operation and 9/14 were alive 26-68 months from the time of operation. Five of the 16 T4 patients showed tumour and metastatic progression. Mild toxicity occurred in six of 36 patients while the haematological reserve was unchanged in all the patients. All eight patients in the parenteral group showed progress of the malignant lesions under treatment and toxic manifestations were so severe that the treatment had to be interrupted. The MTX concentration in serum was significantly higher after parenteral than after anal injection, while in tumour tissue it was higher after anal administration.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show that MTX submucosal anal injection is effective in treatment of T3 rectal cancer due to high MTX concentration in the tumour. Toxicity was mild owing to low level of serum MTX. The anal route of administration is safe, well tolerated and can be used on an outpatient basis.

Anal submucosal injection: a new route for drug administration. VI. Chronic prostatitis: a new modality of treatment with report of eleven cases

The anal submucosal route was used for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis in 11 patients. Prior to presentation, the patients had received different antimicrobial agents; the symptoms disappeared only to recur whenever the drug was discontinued. After repeated failure, the patients were treated with gentamicin to which the organisms were sensitive, via the anal submucosal route. A daily injection was given for ten days on an outpatient basis. The technique of injection is described. The patients were followed up clinically and by segmented cultures for three years. No anorectal complications were encountered as had been demonstrated experimentally. The symptoms of chronic prostatitis disappeared, and culture was negative by the end of treatment and for two to three years thereafter in all patients. It appears that the antimicrobial agent, via anal route, reaches the prostatic tissues at a higher concentration than that of the serum. The route adopted by the drug to reach the prostate from the anal submucosa is presented.

Anal submucosal injection: a new route for drug administration in pelvic malignancies. IV. Submucosal anal injection in the treatment of cancer of uterine cervix--preliminary study

Seven patients with advanced cancer of the uterine cervix were treated by anal submucosal injection of methotrexate. Each course consists of five injections, one every 5 days; each injection contains 100 mg of methotrexate. The course was repeated at 3-week intervals and was given on an outpatient basis. Investigations were performed before, during, and after treatment. Methotrexate blood level was measured 4 and 24 hours after administration. Complete response occurred in all seven patients. Relapse occurred in four but could be controlled by further methotrexate administration. Average duration of survival is 46 1/2 months. No side effects were encountered as a result of a low methotrexate serum level that was recorded 4 hours after administration, 0.82 mumol after anal injection compared with 2.8 mumol for the intravenous route. The beneficial effect seems to be the result of the high methotrexate concentration in uterine and tumor tissue. The route adopted by the drug to reach the uterus from the anal submucosa is through the hemorrhoidogenital communicating veins. This preliminary study demonstrates that anal injection of methotrexate is effective in the treatment of advanced cancer. It is safe, well tolerated, and can be used as an outpatient treatment.

Anal submucosal injection: a new route for drug administration in pelvic malignancies. II. Methotrexate anal injection in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer. Preliminary study

The clinical efficacy of submucosal anal injections of methotrexate in advanced bladder cancer is investigated. An experimental study on 20 mice has shown that methotrexate injected into the anal submucosa has no clinicopathological effect on the anorectum. The clinical study comprised 18 patients with advanced bladder cancer (13 with stage T3 and 5 with stage T4 disease) as a test group in whom methotrexate was injected into the anal submucosa and 8 (6 with stage T3 and 2 with stage T4 cancer) treated concurrently with intravenous methotrexate. The dose in both groups was 50 mg. every 5 days for 5 consecutive doses. The course was repeated at 3-week intervals. Most patients received methotrexate as outpatients. Methotrexate blood levels were measured 4 and 24 hours after administration in both groups. In the test group 10 of the 18 patients showed complete tumor regression and were alive 21 to 50 months after the start of treatment. Partial regression was observed in 8 patients. Hematological reserve remained unchanged. Mild toxicity occurred in 3 patients. Of the 8 patients treated intravenously the tumor showed partial regression in 1, was stable in 3 and progressed in 4. Side effects were severe in 5 patients. Our results show that methotrexate injection is highly effective in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer. It is safe, well tolerated and can be used on an outpatient basis.

Pelvic organ venous communications. Anatomy and role in urogenital diseases; a new technique of cystovaginohysterography

A study of the communicating veins between the venous plexuses of the pelvic organs was performed on 21 female cadavers. Thirteen cadavers were studied radiologically after being injected with barium sulfate and 8 were examined after injection of a plastic material. Two groups of communicating veins could be recognized: rectovaginal and vaginovesical; their anatomic features are described. The communicating veins were unidirectional; they transmitted the dye from the rectal to the vaginovesical plexuses, but not in the reverse direction. A new concept was proposed to explain the high Escherichia coli incidence in genitourinary infections. It explains also the cause of some of the idiopathic genitourinary lesions such as recurrent cervicitis and recurrent bacteriuria. A "cystovaginohysterography" could be obtained by injecting the inferior mesenteric vein with barium sulfate. The rectogenital communicating veins have been used in both the diagnosis and the treatment of lesions in pelvic organs.

A concept of the anatomy of the anal sphincter mechanism and the physiology of defecation

A review of the new concepts of the anatomy of the anal sphincter mechanism and the physiology of defecation is presented. The external sphincter is a triple-loop system; each loop can function as a separate sphincter through voluntary inhibition action and mechanical compression. Stress defecation resulting from internal sphincter damage is described. A new technique for repair of rectal incontinence is presented, which depends on inducing continence not only by mechanical compression, but also by voluntary inhibition. The mechanism of defecation and rectal continence is described and four types of incontinence presented. Also, the mechanism of both the levator dysfunction syndrome and prolapse is demonstrated and a technique of repair is presented. The study defines two types of rectal anomalies; suprahiatal and infrahiatal. The role of the embryonic anorectal sinus, anorectal band, and epithelial debris in the genesis of perirectal suppuration, chronic anal fissure, pruritus ani, and hemorrhoids is described. The communicating veins, identified between the hemorrhoidal and vesical plexuses, offer an explanation for the vague pathologic aspects of recurrent bacteriuria, urethral discharge, cervicitis, and vaginitis, and provide a proper line for their treatment. They also serve to perform a new radiographic technique--anal cystography--and to administer drugs, including chemotherapeutics, in the treatment of pelvic malignancies.