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Purpose This study was designed to investigate the intratumoral uptake of hollow gold nanospheres (HAuNS) after hepatic intra-arterial (IA) and intravenous (IV) injection in a liver tumor model. Materials and Methods Fifteen VX2 tumor-bearing rabbits were randomized into five groups (N=3 in each group) that received either IV 64Cu-labeled PEG-HAuNS (IV-PEG-HAuNS), IA 64Cu-labeled PEG-HAuNS (IA-PEG-HAuNS), IV cyclic peptide (RGD)-conjugated 64Cu-labeled PEG-HAuNS (IV-RGD-PEG-HAuNS), IA RGD-conjugated 64Cu-labeled PEG-HAuNS (IA-RGD-PEG-HAuNS), or IA 64Cu-labeled PEG-HAuNS with lipiodol (IA-PEG-HAuNS-lipiodol). The animals underwent PET/CT 1 hour after injection, and uptake expressed as percentage of injected dose per gram of tissue (%ID/g) was measured in tumor and major organs. The animals were euthanized 24 hours after injection, and tissues were evaluated for radioactivity. Results At 1 hour after injection, animals in the IA-PEG-HAuNS-lipiodol group showed significantly higher tumor uptake (P < 0.001) and higher ratios of tumor-to-normal liver uptake (P < 0.001) than those in all other groups. The biodistribution of radioactivity 24 hours after injection showed that IA delivery of PEG-HAuNS with lipiodol resulted in the highest tumor uptake (0.33 %ID/g; P < 0.001) and tumor-to-normal liver ratio (P < 0.001) among all delivery methods. At 24 hours, the IA-RGD-PEG-HAuNS group showed higher tumor uptake than the IA-PEG-HAuNS group (0.20 %ID/g vs. 0.099 %ID/g; P < 0.001). Conclusion Adding iodized oil to IA-PEG-HAuNS maximizes nanoparticle delivery to hepatic tumors and therefore may be useful in targeted chemotherapy and photoablative therapy. PET/CT can be used to noninvasively monitor the biodistribution of radiolabeled HAuNS after IV or IA injection.

Background Fluoroscopic-guided placement of a percutaneous decompression gastrostomy tube (PDGT) is used to palliate patients with malignant bowel obstruction (MBO). We report our clinical experience in cases of MBO and ascites that were known to be technically difficult and at increased risk for complications after PDGT placement. Methods Between October 2005 and April 2010, a total of 89 consecutive oncology patients with MBO and ascites underwent at least one attempt at PDGT placement. We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical record to collect demographic details, procedure information, and morbidity and mortality data. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to calculate median survival after PDGT. Results Ninety-three new gastrostomy encounters occurred in 89 patients. The primary and secondary technical success rates were 72 % (67 of 93) and 77.4 % (72 of 93), respectively. Inadequate gastric distention was the reason for failure in 84.6 % (22 of 26) of the cases in which the initial PDGT attempt was unsuccessful. For ascites management, 13 patients underwent paracentesis and 78 patients underwent placement of an intraperitoneal catheter. The overall complication rate in successful placements was 13.9 %, with a major complication rate of 9.7 %. After PDGT, the median overall survival rate was 28.5 days (95 % confidence interval 20–42). Conclusions PDGT is feasible in the majority of patients with MBO and ascites, although there is an inherent risk of major complications. An intraperitoneal catheter can be used to manage ascites to facilitate PDGT.

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