Clinical Trial of Radiotherapy After Intravenous Injection of Acridine Orange for Patients with Cancer

Abstract

Aim: We previously found that low-dose X-ray treatment after systemic administration of acridine orange (AO), which is known to have a low toxicity in animals, inhibited tumor growth in experimental studies using mouse osteosarcoma. In this pilot study, we planned to verify the toxicity of intravenous injection of low-dose AO in humans and investigate the anticancer effect of radiation after systemic AO administration (iAOR) for human cancer.

Patients and methods: Eight patients with terminal cancer were treated with iAOR.

Results: None of the patients exhibited an adverse effect from AO injection. Three out of the five patients who received a full course of iAOR exhibited clinical or image-based responses, whereas two patients did not.

Conclusion: The systemic administration of AO was confirmed not to be toxic in humans, and iAOR was suggested to be potentially effective against radioresistant cancer.

Keywords: Acridine orange; autophagy; cancer; radiotherapy; toxicity.