Jla. Ponce et al., Bioavailability of etoposide after oral administration of the solution marketed for intravenous use: Therapeutic and pharmacoeconomic perspectives, ARCH MED R, 30(3), 1999, pp. 212-215
Background Oral etoposide administration is a suitable alternative to the i
ntravenous route; therefore, commercial capsules have been developed. Befor
e these capsules were available in Mexico, we studied drug bioavailability
after oral administration of the intravenous etoposide solution (IVES).
Methods. Eight adult cancer patients received a 50-mg oral etoposide dose a
s IVES and blood samples were collected over a period of 24 h. plasma etopo
side concentration was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography
, plasma concentration against time curves were constructed, and bioavailab
ility parameters were calculated.
Results. Oral IVES yielded an adequate bioavailability profile because C-ma
x, was 2.38 +/- 0.30 mu g/mL, AUC was 12.87 +/- 2.02 mu g/mL and half-life
was 6.72 +/- 0.97 h.
Conclusions. Considering that the pharmacokinetic aim is to maintain plasma
concentrations between 0.5 and 1.0 mu g/mL for several hours while avoidin
g high concentrations, i.e., of 10 mu g/mL or higher, oral administration o
f 50-mg etoposide as IVES appears to be a suitable dosing option. In additi
on, oral IVES is considerably less expensive than intravenous administratio
n in terms of both drug presentation and administration. (C) 1999 IMSS. Pub
lished by Elsevier Science Inc.