A clinical trial of intravenous and intracavitary bleomycin

Abstract

Bleomycin, used in two intravenous treatment schedules, induced little tumor regression in 44 patients with advanced carcinoma. Intracavitary instillation resulted in a decrease of fluid reaccumulation in 40% of patients. Bleomycin therapy was associated with toxic reactions in the skin, mucosa, or gastrointestinal tract in 50% of the patients. A severe pulmonary reaction progressing to death occurred in two patients. Cuboidal metaplasia of the alveolar cells with an intra-alveolar exudate appeared as the primary pulmonary lesion. The principal changes in the lung were in the alveoli and might represent an early phase in the formation of pulmonary fibrosis.