Eleven-year survivor of unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma treated using long-term UFT therapy

We report a 49-year-old man with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) who was treated with oral tegafur-uracil (UFT) chemotherapy and survived for over a decade. In 1995, the patient was admitted to our institution after a large tumor in his left liver was detected using computed tomography (CT). The tumor was diagnosed as ICC, and a laparotomy was performed; however, the tumor was too advanced to perform a curative resection. The cancer had spread to the lymph nodes in the hepatoduodenal ligament and on the posterior surface of the pancreas head. A curative resection was abandoned, and oral UFT chemotherapy was started immediately after the laparotomy. The tumor remained almost unchanged until 2001 with only UFT administration; however, its size gradually increased to 7.8 cm in diameter. External-beam radiotherapy (50.4 Gy) was performed, and the tumor's size decreased to 6.3 cm in diameter. Eleven years have now passed since the laparotomy, and the patient continues to lead a normal daily life working as a banker. The cumulative dose of UFT has reached 2511 g without any significant adverse effects. This case suggests that oral UFT might suppress the progression of ICC, contributing to this patient's 11-year survival period.