Immunochemotherapy with recombinant interleukin-2 and adriamycin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) and adriamycin were administered systemically to treat nine patients (age 15.5-68 years, mean 48.9 years) with far advanced primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Three patients were newly diagnosed, and the remaining patients had received surgery, transcatheter arterial embolization, chemotherapy and other treatments but without improvement. RIL-2 was given at a dose of 10,000 to 30,000 units/kg every 8 hours for consecutive 9 days, and on the fifth day, a single dose of adriamycin 30 to 60 mg/M2 was administered. Four patients interrupted the immunotherapy because of severe intolerable side effects, 4 patients completed one course and the remaining one received 2 courses of treatment. Various adverse reactions were encountered, however, they subsided promptly after stop of therapy. All patients failed to respond to the regimen. Primary hepatic tumors continued to enlarge in 8 patients and remained unchanged in one, and pulmonary metastases also increased in size and number in 4 patients. Transient decrease in serum alpha-fetoprotein was found in 6 patients. These results suggests that systemic IL-2 immunotherapy, even in combination with chemotherapy, is not effective for the treatment of far advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. However, in viewing of its immune amplifying effect, rIL-2 in combination with other treatment modalities may still be worth trying in early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma.