[Chemoembolization and regional hyperthermia with degradable starch microspheres in the treatment of malignant hepatic tumors].

Antitumor effects of chemoembolization with degradable starch microspheres (DSM) combined with regional hyperthermia (HT) were investigated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic liver cancer. Chemoembolization with DSM was performed in 39 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in 25 cases of metastatic liver cancer. Thirteen cases of HCC and 3 cases of metastatic liver cancer were treated with the combination of HT. A catheter was placed in the proper hepatic artery via the trans-femoral approach. Adriamycin or Mitomycin C mixed with DSM was injected every 2 or 3 weeks through the catheter. Thermotron RF-8, the heating device used in this study, is operated at 8 MHz radiofrequency. Hyperthermia treatment was applied twice a week. The therapeutic effect of this treatment was evaluated by the change in tumor size measured by angiography or computed tomography. Tumor regression over 50% was observed in 42% of the patients with HCC treated with chemoembolization alone and in 54% of those with chemoembolization and HT. In the patients with metastatic liver cancer, tumor regression over 50% was observed in 65% of the patients treated with chemoembolization alone and in 33% of those with chemoembolization and HT. One-year survival rate after the initial treatment in patients with HCC was 66% and 89% in the patients treated with chemoembolization alone and with chemoembolization and HT, respectively. One and two-year survival rates in the patients with metastatic liver cancer was 55% and 41% in the treatment with chemoembolization alone. These results suggest that chemoembolization using DSM was markedly effective in the patients with malignant hepatic tumors, particularly in metastatic liver cancer.