A non-resectable hepatoma after hepatic artery ligation combined with infusion chemotherapy--an eight-year survival

Abstract

A 69-year-old man with a large hepatoma of the right lobe extending in part to the medial segment of the left lobe was treated by ligation of the right hepatic artery combined with continuous infusion of a total dose of 5500 mg og 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) into the left hepatic artery. Postoperative celiac arteriogram and liver scintigram revealed a marked regression of the tumor size. After four weeks he was discharged in a satisfactory condition. Seven years and two months after the initial treatment he was readmitted because of a concomitant cancer of the cardia. Total gastrectomy was performed with a favorable result. A second look for the previous hepatic tumor during total gastrectomy revealed a fibrous tissue containing scattered nodules of hepatocellular carcinoma on the right lateral surface of the liver instead of the previous large tumor in the right hepatic lobe. He survived for eight ears after the first operation.