Clinical pharmacology of bleomycin following intravenous infusion as determined by radioimmunoassay

Abstract

The clinical pharmacology of bleomycin administered by continuous intravenous infusion over a 4 to 5 day period was examined in nine patients. Patients receiving 30 units per day attained an average steady state plasma level of 145.8 (± 43.1)ng/ml bleomycin. Elimination of bleomycin was initially described by first order rate kinetics (t^1/2 = 1.32 ± 0.39 hour). However, at times greater than 12 hours following termination of infusion, a second elimination phase was observed (t^1/2 = 8.9 ± 2.7 hour). There was also a high correlation between renal bleomycin clearance and creatinine clearance. The importance of renal clearance was indicated in a patient with renal impairment. This patient attained a steady state bleomycin concentration of 1046 ng/ml and exhibited a terminal elimination half-life of 33 hours. Overall plasma clearance of bleomycin (Qβ) was generally greater than renal clearance, indicating that a nonrenal clearance mechanism was also important in bleomycin elimination. This nonrenal mechanism became especially apparent during renal failure. Cancer 40:2772-2778, 1977.