RESUMO
This study was to determine which of two routes of administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is more effective, by measuring the radioactvity in the body tissues of gastric cancer patients after the administration of 5-FU-l4C via the systemic intravenous and the regional intra-arterial routes. After the drug was administered intravenously in one group of patients, and intra-arterially in another; samples of portal venous blood, the liver, the lymph nodes, and the normal and the cancerous tissues of the stomach were obtained. The radioactivities of the samples were measured, and it was found that those of the regional lymph nodes, the liver, and the normal and the cancerous tissues of the stomach were much higher in the latter group. The regional intra-arterial routes is the more effective way to administer 5-FU in patients with stomach cancer.