Multimodal treatment of stage IVa hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
The effectiveness of multimodal therapy for Stage IVa hepatocellular carcinoma was investigated.


METHODS
Between 1982 and 1994, 40 patients with primary Stage IVa tumors were treated in our clinical unit.


RESULTS
The overall survival rate was 79.7% at 1 year, 37.0% at 3 years, and 20.8% at 5 years. However, the most successful multimodal therapy, a combination of hepatectomy, embolization, and ethanol injection, achieved significantly better results (92.9% at 1 year, 59.6% at 3 years, and 47.7% at 5 years). This improved survival could still be obtained by multimodal therapy, even when surgical resection was incomplete.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that multimodal therapy including hepatectomy can be recommended for improving the survival of patients with Stage IVa hepatocellular carcinoma.
First Department of Surgery, Fukuoka University Hospital, Japan.
T
T
Harada
K
K
Matsuo
T
T
Inoue
T
T
Inoue
S
S
Tamesue
T
T
Inoue
D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D000431:Ethanol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
D000431:Ethanol