Superficial bladder cancer can be treated by direct instillation of the antineoplastic antibiotic agent mitomycin (Mutamycin). This process is termed:
A. Intraventricular administration.
B. Intravesical administration.
C. Intravascular administration.
D. Intrathecal administration.
Correct Answer: B. Intravesical administration.
Medications administered intravesically are instilled into the bladder. Intravascular administration involves blood vessels. With intravesical therapy, the doctor puts a liquid drug right into the bladder rather than giving it by mouth or injecting it into the blood. The drug is put in through a soft catheter that’s put into the bladder through the urethra. The drug stays in the bladder for up to 2 hours. This way, the drug can affect the cells lining the inside of the bladder without having major effects on other parts of the body.
Option A: Intraventricular administration involves the ventricles of the brain. Intraventricular administration of chemotherapy is one approach to overcoming the limited distribution of anticancer drugs and their active metabolites into the CNS. This form of regional chemotherapy has led to the effective treatment of occult and overt meningeal leukemia in humans.
Option C: Intravenous (IV) chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that injects chemotherapy medicine directly into a patient’s vein thereby instantly entering the bloodstream. IV chemotherapy is the most common form of chemotherapy and is typically performed during a series of sessions over the course of weeks; each session may range from a few minutes to a few hours. IV chemotherapy provides versatility and flexibility in treatment dosage and may be delivered directly into the vein as one-shot, via a catheter and pump, or through a drip bag that dilutes the medication.
Option D: Intrathecal administration involves the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Anticancer drugs are injected into the intrathecal space, which is the space that holds the cerebrospinal fluid. One way is to inject the drugs into an Ommaya reservoir (a dome-shaped container that is placed under the scalp during surgery; it holds the drugs as they flow through a small tube into the brain). The other way is to inject the drugs directly into the CSF in the lower part of the spinal column after a small area on the lower back is numbed.