[Hepatocellular carcinoma with a complete remission of bone metastasis achieved by arterial chemotherapy]

Reported is the case of a hepatocellular carcinoma with a complete remission of the bone metastasis by arterial chemotherapy. The patient was 60 year old male, with the chief complaint being a tumor at the right side of the chest. The diagnosis was a hepatocellular carcinoma with a bone metastasis at the right 10th rib. The bone tumor showed no decrease in size after an intra-arterial injection of adriamycin, and radiation and or hyperthermia. Therefore, intra-arterial injections of mitomycin C mixed with lipiodol were instituted through the intercostal artery, and no bone tumor was noted after start of this therapy. Although the patient subsequently died, microscopic examination of a specimen obtained at autopsy revealed no malignant cells at the right 10th rib. Intra-arterial injections of anticancer agents mixed with lipiodol therefore are thought to be useful for the treatment of a bone metastasis.