PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Peredo, Inti
AU  - Helldén, Anders
AU  - Wolmer-Solberg, Nina
AU  - Pohanka, Anton
AU  - Stragliotto, Giuseppe
AU  - Rahbar, Afsar
AU  - Ståhle, Lars
AU  - Bellander, Bo-Michael
AU  - Söderberg-Nauclér, Cecilia
TI  - Ganciclovir concentrations in the cerebral extracellular space after valganciclovir treatment; a case study
AID  - 10.1136/bcr-2014-207694
DP  - 2015 Dec 15
TA  - BMJ Case Reports
PG  - bcr2014207694
VI  - 2015
4099  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2015/bcr-2014-207694.short
4100  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2015/bcr-2014-207694.full
AB  - Nearly all glioblastomas (GBMs), brain tumours with very poor prognosis, are infected with human cytomegalovirus (CMV). The anti-CMV drug valganciclovir (VGCV) has shown promise as a treatment option for patients with GBM, but its penetration into the central nervous system (CNS) is unknown. Here we describe a patient with GMB receiving VGCV in whom an intracerebral microdialysis catheter was implanted and ganciclovir (GCV) concentrations in brain extracellular fluid (BECF) and serum were monitored. GCV was rapidly absorbed. Cmax values (at 3 h) in serum and BECF were 19.6 and 10.2 µmol/L, T½ values were 3.2 and 4.5 h, and plasma and BECF AUC0−∞ values were 90.7 and 75.9 µmol h/L, respectively. Thus, VGCV treatment results in significant intracerebral levels of GCV that may be sufficient for therapeutic effects. Further studies of this drug in patients with GBM are warranted.