[Percutaneous ethanol injection therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma]

Percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, a kind of non-vascular intervention, has recently been high-lighted as an effective therapy for small liver cancer. According to our experience, results of this therapy were excellent in cases where the amount of ethanol injected could be elevated over 1.5 times the estimated tumor volume. This result indicates that treatment with ethanol injection alone should be confined to small hepatocellular carcinoma with diameter below 3 cm. In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who do not sufficiently respond to transcatheter chemoembolization, the combined use of ethanol injection therapy can improve therapeutic results. That is, ethanol injection therapy is indicated in cases where tumor has collateral blood supply other than hepatic artery, cases where hepatic artery has been obstructed, and cases where Lipiodol used for trans-catheter chemoembolization cannot be retained in tumor tissue. Furthermore, cases of giant hepatocellular carcinoma or tumor accompanied by obstructive jaundice have sometimes been treated with a combination of incomplete chemoembolization and ethanol injection therapy. Even in patients showing intraportal tumor thrombus, ethanol injection effectively relieved the thrombus.