Melphalan hepatic delivery system
High-dose melphalan pumped through the liver's own blood supply while the blood leaving the liver is filtered, the first approved treatment for uveal melanoma that has spread to the liver.
Overview
The Hepzato Kit combines melphalan with a percutaneous hepatic perfusion system: catheters isolate the liver's circulation, deliver a high dose of melphalan into the hepatic artery, and filter the drug out of the blood leaving the liver before it returns to the body. In the FOCUS trial in uveal melanoma with liver metastases, a cancer with few effective options, about a third of patients responded. The FDA approved it in August 2023 for adults with uveal melanoma whose unresectable liver metastases affect less than half the liver and who have no disease outside the liver, or only limited disease amenable to surgery or radiation. Bone marrow suppression, bleeding and the risks of a major procedure under general anaesthesia are the main hazards.
Approvals
| Region | Year | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| US | 2023 | Uveal melanoma with unresectable hepatic metastases affecting less than half the liver and no or limited extrahepatic disease |
Trials
topTrials recruiting now
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Latest papers
topQuery for this drug: (TITLE:"Melphalan hepatic delivery system" OR ABSTRACT:"Melphalan hepatic delivery system" OR TITLE:"Hepzato Kit" OR ABSTRACT:"Hepzato Kit") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Melphalan hepatic delivery system, not a curated reading list.