[Efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma using 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin].
OBJECTIVE
There has been no standard treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) until now. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion therapy (HAIT) using 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (CDDP) for advanced HCC.


METHODS
Twenty patients received repeated HAIT using an implanted drug delivery system. Of the 20 patients, eight patients had HCC with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT), eleven patients had residual tumor despite transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) or percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT), and one patient had multiple recurrent HCC nodules after surgical resection. The patients were repeatedly treated with an arterial infusion of 5-FU (250 mg/5 hours on day 1-5) and CDDP (10 mg/1 hour on day 1-5) via the drug delivery system at three weekly intervals.


RESULTS
Of the 20 patients, three patients were excluded from the study due to death within the first 1 week of treatment or during follow-up before evaluation. The response rate according to tumor size on abdominal CT was 29.4% (5 patients). One of the five patients showed a complete response (CR, 5.9%), three patients showed partial responses (PR, 17.6%), and one patient showed a minor response (MR, 5.9%). Chemotherapy- related side effect, such as grade I-II nausea (n=2), grade II vomiting (n=1), fever (n=1), drug eruption (n=1) and catheter-related complication such as dislodgement of the catheter (n=2), occurred in six patients.


CONCLUSIONS
HAIT using the FP regimen is another option for patients having advanced HCC with PVTT or for patients showing an ineffective response to other therapies.
Jang
Byoung Kuk
BK
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Keimyung College of Medicine, Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu, Korea. gastro@dsmc.or.kr.
Kwon
Ki Min
KM
Chung
Woo Jin
WJ
Park
Kyung Sik
KS
Cho
Kwang Bum
KB
Hwang
Jae Seok
JS
Ahn
Sung Hoon
SH
Kim
Gab Chul
GC
Kim
Young Hwan
YH
Choi
Jin Soo
JS
Kwon
Jung Hyeok
JH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006499:Hepatic Artery; D006801:Humans; D015918:Infusion Pumps, Implantable; D007261:Infusions, Intra-Arterial; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography
D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil