title: Doxil-induced regression of pleuro-pulmonary metastases in a patient with malignant meningioma.
abstract: Metastatic meningioma is a rare disease, which has no effective chemotherapy. We report on a treatment of this condition with Doxil, a liposomal doxorubicin formulation. A 60-year-old woman with massive pleuro-pulmonary metastases from recurrent cranial meningioma was treated with Doxil (50-37.5 mg/m2) for 18 months with near-complete resolution of metastases and disappearance of pleural fluid. The only significant toxicities observed were stomatitis and hand-foot syndrome, which resolved with dose reduction and increase of dosing intervals. Doxil was cleared very slowly in this patient with a monoexponential half-life of 108 h. The patient remains in near-complete response for 6 months after treatment discontinuation. This is the first report on an effective chemotherapy in a patient with typical metastatic meningioma. The exact mechanism accounting for such an effective drug action is not clear, but may be related to a particularly high microvascular permeability to the liposome carriers in these metastatic lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Mila
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Travitzky
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Libson
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nemirovsky
authors.forename: Irit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hadas
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gabizon
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008579:Meningioma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004317:Doxorubicin