Gut Liver.  2014 Sep;8(5):569-574. 10.5009/gnl13358.

Spontaneous Regression of a Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Multiple Lung Metastases

• Saito T
• Naito M
• Matsumura
• Kita H
• Kanno T
• Nakada Y
• Hamano M
• Chiba M
• Maeda K
• Michida T
• Ito T

• KMID: 2070069
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5009/gnl13358

Abstract

A 75-year-old Japanese man with chronic hepatitis C was found to have a large liver tumor and multiple nodules in the bilateral lungs. We diagnosed the tumor as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with multiple lung metastases based on imaging studies and high titers of HCC tumor markers. Remarkably, without any anticancer treatment or medication, including herbal preparations, the liver tumor decreased in size, and the tumor makers diminished. Moreover, after 1 year, the multiple nodules in the bilateral lungs had disappeared. Fifteen months after the first medical examination, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) was performed for the residual HCC. Because local relapse was observed on follow-up computed tomography, a second TACE was performed 13 months after the first one. At 4 years after the second TACE (7 years after the initial medical examination), there was no recurrence of primary or metastatic lesions. Spontaneous regression of HCC is very rare, and its mechanism remains unclear. Understanding the underlying mechanism of this rare phenomenon may offer some hope of finding new therapies, even in advanced metastatic cases.

Keyword

Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Lung metastasis; Neoplasm regression, spontaneous

MeSH Terms

Aged
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology/*secondary
Chemoembolization, Therapeutic
Humans
Liver Neoplasms/*pathology
Lung Neoplasms/*secondary
Male
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/pathology
Neoplasm Regression, Spontaneous/*pathology
Tomography, X-Ray Computed