title: Systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although numerous chemotherapeutic agents have been tested, the role of systemic chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been clarified. New therapeutic strategies are thus needed to improve outcomes, and we designed this study with new effective drug combination.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine patients with histologically-confirmed, metastatic HCC received a combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on day 1, plus capecitabine 2000 mg/m2/day as an intermittent regimen of 2 weeks of treatment followed by a 1-week rest.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age was 49 years (range, 32-64) and 19 patients were hepatitis B virus seropositive. Child-Pugh class was A in all patients and 4 had Zubrod performance status of 2. The objective response rate was 24% (95% CI 9-40) with 6 stable diseases. The chemotherapy was generally well tolerated despite one treatment-related death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine produced modest antitumor activity with tolerable adverse effects in patients with metastatic HCC.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Gachon Medical School Gil Medical Center, Incheon 405-760, Korea. hematoma@gilhospital.com
authors.forename: Se Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yuna
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Oh Sang
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sun Suk
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ju Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeon Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jeong Nam
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Soo-Mee
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Eun Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Dong Bok
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jae Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000069287:Capecitabine; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000069287:Capecitabine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil