Methods of treating upper tract urothelial carcinomas

Abstract

The invention relates to methods for locally delivering a chemotherapeutic agent to an upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The methods involve placing a balloon catheter that has a working channel and a balloon into the ureter / renal pelvis via retrograde or antegrade ureteral access; inflating the catheter balloon to temporarily obstruct the ureter; infusing (instilling) a liposomal formulation that includes a chemotherapeutic agent into the working channel of the catheter; and allowing the infused liposomal formulation to dwell in the ureter and / or renal pelvis for a time sufficient to allow at least a portion of the liposomal formulation to adhere to the urothelial wall. In the methods of the invention, at least a portion of the infused chemotherapeutic-agent formulation adheres tothe urothelial wall while it is instilled and dwells in the ureter and / or renal pelvis. The disclosed methods can be performed as an adjuvant therapy to other methods of treating UTUC, such as ureteroscopic ablation or resection of the tumor.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to methods for the local delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The method comprises local delivery of a liposomal formulation of a chemotherapeutic agent into the ureter and / or renal pelvis via retrograde or antegrade catheter access. Background technique [0002] Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is a relatively uncommon type of cancer, accounting for only 5% to 10% of all urothelial carcinomas. (Leow et al., 2014, Suriano et al., 2014, Roupret et al., 2015). The annual incidence of UTUC in Western countries is estimated to be approximately two cases per 100,000 inhabitants (or 6000 cases / year). (Roupret et al., 2015). UTUC is most prevalent in people aged 70-90 and is three times more common in men than in women. In 17% of cases, concurrent bladder cancer was present. Intravesical recurrence occurs in 22% to 47% of UTUC patients, compared with 2% to 6% in the contralat...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Intraluminal delivery into the upper urinary tract presents unique challenges given the aqueous environment of ureteral contents, expulsion peristalsis, and difficulty penetrating the urothelial barrier

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