Systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
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.
Park
Se Hoon
SH
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Gachon Medical School Gil Medical Center, Incheon 405-760, Korea. hematoma@gilhospital.com
Lee
Yuna
Y
Han
Sang Hoon
SH
Kwon
So Young
SY
Kwon
Oh Sang
OS
Kim
Sun Suk
SS
Kim
Ju Hyun
JH
Park
Yeon Ho
YH
Lee
Jeong Nam
JN
Bang
Soo-Mee
SM
Cho
Eun Kyung
EK
Shin
Dong Bok
DB
Lee
Jae Hoon
JH
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
D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000069287:Capecitabine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil