Korean J Hepatol.  2004 Dec;10(4):271-278.

Efficacy of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Therapy for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using 5-fluorouracil and Cisplatin

• Jang BK
• Kwon KM
• Chung WJ
• Park KS
• Cho KB
• Hwang JS
• Ahn SH
• Kim GC
• Kim YH
• Choi JS
• Kwon JH

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: 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.

Keyword

Hepatocellular carcinoma; Hepatic arterial infusion therapy; 5-FU; Cisplatin

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/*therapeutic use
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*drug therapy/radiography
Cisplatin/administration & dosage
English Abstract
Fluorouracil/administration & dosage
*Hepatic Artery
Humans
Infusion Pumps, Implantable
*Infusions, Intra-Arterial
Liver Neoplasms/*drug therapy/radiography
Male
Middle Aged