Preparation And In Vitro Studies Of 5-Fluorouracil-Loaded Esophageal Stent

Palliative relief from malignant esophageal stricture has been comprehensively obtained by using metallic stents in clinic. However, the failure of this endoluminal stent frequently occurred resulting from ingrowth and overgrowth of the device by tumor cells. A new type of esophageal stent was fabricated, which is the combination of an anticancer drug-containing stent coating and an esophageal stent. The drug-coated esophageal stent reserves the functions of traditional stents. Furthermore, this local drug delivery/medical device combination has the advantages: the drug is targeted to the esophageal cancer and its neighboring tissue, and there is no need to use high or toxic systemic doses to achieve sufficient local concentrations; and a sustained, controlled dosing level can be maintained around the device over the necessary duration. Therefore, suppression of tumor growth and improved effective lifespan of the device could be expected simultaneously.Firstly, we conducted the preformulation studies on 5-Fu-loaded esophageal stent coatings. Two quantitive determination methods of 5-Fu, HPLC method and UV method, were established. The related physical...