[Prophylactic chemotherapy by regional arterial infusion in resected hepatoma patients]

We established risk factors for high post-resectional recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). They included: (1)Vp (+), (2)IM (+), (3)more than 5 cm in diameter of the main tumor, and (4)gross type except single nodular tumor. Seventy HCC patients in this category were divided into two groups. In group 1, 11 patients prophylactically underwent hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy after liver resection. Chemotherapeutic agents (MMC, 5-FU, ADM, CDDP) with Lipiodol were administered 4 times a year via Infuse-A-port. The remaining 59 cases served as the control without prophylactic infusion. Two-year survival rate was better in prophylactic group (75%) than in the control (46%, p = 0.063). The two-year disease-free survival was significantly improved in group 1 (40%) compared with that in group 2 (26%, p = 0.019). Based on our data, we suggest that prophylactic arterial infusion chemotherapy can be efficacious in alleviating hepatoma recurrence after liver resection.