[Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy Using a Reservoir for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma]

Administration of chemotherapy treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is divided into hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) which delivers chemotherapeutic agents directly using a catheter, and systemic chemotherapy including oral treatment. Evidence for treatment with sorafenib has emerged indicating it is an effective drug for advanced HCC. HAIC can provide high anticancer efficacy, and it is often performed on patients with advanced HCC in our country. Since various HAIC regimens exist, the efficacy of HAIC using a reservoir system was tested in patients with advanced HCC. The overall response rate was 36%, with a median survival time of 11.9 months. Patients with controlled disease at 8 weeks had Child-Pugh classification A, and no increase in AFP levels when starting early stage in treatment, which were considered to be factors that influenced therapeutic efficacy. Comparison with other HAIC regimens, and consideration of combined treatments using sorafenib and HAIC will be needed.