title: Thalidomide for the treatment of metastatic hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: a case report with a long term follow-up.
abstract: Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEH) is an unusual, low-grade malignant vascular tumor of the liver. Here we describe a case of a 40-year-old woman who presented with abdominal pain in the upper right quadrant and giant hepatomegaly, in which imaging studies and a fine-needle liver biopsy confirmed the presence of a large EHE with an isolated lung metastasis. After balancing all possible therapeutic modalities the patient was treated conservatively with thalidomide (300 mg/day). The drug was well tolerated with minimal toxicity and the patient continues on therapy 109 months after treatment was started with no disease progression. Current therapeutic options for HEH are discussed in light of the clinical case with particular emphasis on anti-angiogenic therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Chile Clinical Hospital, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salech
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valderrama
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nervi
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oksenberg
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Gladys
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smok
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Rosa María
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pérez-Ayuso
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jarufe
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soza
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arrese
authors.forename: Arnoldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riquelme
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D018323:Hemangioendothelioma, Epithelioid / Q000098:blood supply / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D006529:Hepatomegaly / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000556:secondary*; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D013792:Thalidomide