PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - F. Gagnadoux AU - A. L. Pape AU - E. Lemarié AU - S. Lerondel AU - I. Valo AU - V. Leblond AU - J-L. Racineux AU - T. Urban TI - Aerosol delivery of chemotherapy in an orthotopic model of lung cancer AID - 10.1183/09031936.05.00017305 DP - 2005 Oct 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 657--661 VI - 26 IP - 4 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/26/4/657.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/26/4/657.full SO - Eur Respir J2005 Oct 01; 26 AB - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect on tumour growth of gemcitabine delivered by aerosol in an orthotopic model of lung carcinoma. Large cell carcinoma (NCI-H460) cells were implanted intrabronchially in 24 male BALB/c nude mice on day (d) 0. Aerosols were delivered once a week from d1 to d29 using an endotracheal sprayer. Altogether, 16 animals received gemcitabine at 8 (n = 8) and 12 mg·kg−1 (n = 8), and eight received a vehicle aerosol. Animals were sacrificed on d36 for histological examination. All animals in the vehicle group developed a large infiltrating carcinoma. Comparatively, four of 13 (31%) animals treated with gemcitabine had no visible tumour and nine of 13 (69%) had a smaller carcinoma with a mean±sem largest tumour diameter of 2.05±0.7 versus 5±0.3 mm in the vehicle group. Gemcitabine was well tolerated at 8 mg·kg−1. At 12 mg·kg−1, three cases of fatal pulmonary oedema were observed, prompting a dose reduction to 8 mg·kg−1 in the remaining animals. A dose effect was observed, with more marked tumour growth inhibition in the animals treated at 12 mg·kg−1 on d1 and d8. In conclusion, in this study, an animal model of aerosolised chemotherapy in lung cancer was developed and demonstrated inhibition of orthotopic tumour growth by aerosol delivery of gemcitabine.