Treatment of primary liver cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate treatment of patients with primary liver cancer.


METHODS
Prospective protocol including subsets of randomised studies.


METHODS
University hospital, Sweden.


METHODS
123 patients with primary liver cancer.


METHODS
64 patients underwent hepatic resection, 25 were included in a trial of adjuvant chemotherapy. 24 further patients whose tumours were not resectable were included in a trial of intra-arterial infusion of doxorubicin.


METHODS
Survival and postoperative morbidity.


RESULTS
The median survival time for patients who had had resections was 11 months (range 0-111). Twelve per cent survived more than 5 years. No prognostic factor had any significant effect on outcome. The postoperative mortality was 11% (7/64). The patients allocated to adjuvant chemotherapy survived a median of 10 months (range 1-47) and the controls 29 months (range 8-111) (p=0.04). Patients with unresectable liver cancer treated with intra-arterial doxorubicin lived no longer than untreated controls (median 8 months (range 1-56) compared with 7 months (range 1-28)).


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment of patients with primary liver cancer is still an unsolved problem. Adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin had no beneficial effect on survival.
Department of Surgery, Umeå University Hospital, Sweden.
L
L
Hafström
P
P
Naredi
P
P
Lindnér
S
S
Holmberg
T
T
Scherstén
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D007261:Infusions, Intra-Arterial; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004317:Doxorubicin