Treatment of cystic hygroma and lymphangioma with the use of bleomycin fat emulsion

Abstract

Of the several types of treatment for cystic hygromas and lymphangiomas, surgical excision has been the preferred treatment. However, there is a high recurrence rate because lymphangiomas tend to infiltrate the surrounding tissues. Bleomycin in a microsphere-in-oil (S/O) emulsion was used in this study as a sclerosing agent for lymphangiomas. Experimental studies using domestic rabbits showed that the bleomycin emulsion caused more marked fibrotic changes at the injection site than other formulations, such as a blank emulsion and bleomycin solution. In clinical trials, 27 of 33 patients received bleomycin S/O emulsion injected directly into the tumors with satisfactory results. Histologic pictures of the clinically resected specimens confirmed the findings of the experimental studies. Comparative studies of treatments between bleomycin S/O emulsion and surgery indicated that injection therapy of bleomycin S/O emulsion would be more beneficial than surgical excisions.