Limb perfusion is a medical technique used to deliver drugs, most often anticancer chemotherapy agents, directly to an isolated arm or leg rather than through the general circulation. A tourniquet is used to reduce blood flow out of the limb being treated, isolating it so a high local drug concentration can be achieved while limiting systemic exposure and toxicity; the same technique is used in veterinary medicine to deliver drugs to a site of infection, injury or cancer in dogs.
Facts
FAQs
Does limb perfusion work for melanoma of the arm or leg?
A systematic review found it effective and safe for unresectable limb melanoma.
A published systematic review of the technique, which is also called isolated limb perfusion, found it effective in achieving clinical responses in patients with unresectable locally advanced melanoma of the limbs. The same review described the disease-free and overall survival rates as acceptable and judged the procedure safe, with a low incidence of severe regional and systemic toxicity.
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Source Limb perfusion (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
Limb perfusion (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limb_perfusion, lead section
Limb perfusion is a medical technique that is used to deliver drugs locally directly to a site of interest.
Treats: Melanoma, Article text, use for Melanoma
Among other types of cancer, isolated limb perfusion has been used to treat in transit metastatic melanoma.
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