Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
-
A second generation, implantable drug administration device (DAD, Medtronic, Inc, Minneapolis) which contains a 20-mL drug reservoir, a lithium-thionyl-chloride battery, a peristaltic roller pump, a microprocessor circuit, and an acoustic transducer has entered clinical trials. After surgical placement, drug is entered into and removed from the DAD percutaneously through a Silastic "fill port" using a standard gauge needle and syringe. The pump is noninvasively programmed using a hand-held telemetry wand to administer the drug in a continuous infusion, bolus, or bolus-delay mode. ⋯ Doxorubicin was compatible with all components of the drug pathway and did not significantly decompose during two weeks in the drug reservoir. The starting dose of CID was 2.0 mg/m2/d and the maximum tolerated dose was 4.1 mg/m2/d (range, 3.5 to 5.5). A median cumulative doxorubicin dose of 244 mg/m2 per patient (range, 10 to 583 mg/m2) has been infused.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)