A mechanism for improved talc pleurodesis via foam delivery

• Published in: Drug delivery Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 733 - 740
• Main Authors: Lima, T. A., Coler, R. A., Laub, G. W., Sexton, S., Curtin, L., Laub, K. M., Alvarez, N. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01-01-2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adhesion; Chest tubes; Drug delivery; foam; Hydrogels; malignant pleural effusions; Pleural effusion; pleurodesis; Rheology; Surfactants; malignant pleural effusions; Drug delivery; rheology; foam; pleurodesis
• ISSN: 1071-7544; 1521-0464
• DOI: 10.1080/10717544.2021.1895910

Talcum powder is recognized as the leading drug for pleurodesis, a treatment of choice for malignant pleural effusions. Recently, it was shown that hydrogel foam delivery systems significantly enhanced the number of adhesions between the chest wall and the lung in a New Zealand rabbit model due to the sol-gel transition. However, many questions still remain regarding the cause of improved efficacy, such as: (1) Would only hydrogel foams improve the efficacy of talc pleurodesis? (2) Is it possible to achieve the same efficacy of hydrogels using non-hydrogel foams? 3) What are the physicochemical properties that can be correlated to the efficacy of talc pleurodesis? In this study, we use non-hydrogel foam formulations to determine the efficacy of pleurodesis. Foam stability and rheology of the formulations were correlated to adhesion formation. The results clearly suggest a correlation of pleurodesis efficacy to the viscosity and modulus of the foam delivery system.