[Systemic chemotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma]

One hundred and twenty-three patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 4 patients with hepatoblastoma were treated with systemic chemotherapy, and then one patient with hepatocellular carcinoma and 4 patients with hepatoblastoma underwent hepatectomy. Preoperative chemotherapy was evaluated to have been successful in the patient with hepatocellular carcinoma and 3 of the 4 patients with hepatoblastoma. In the former, marked tumor necrosis was observed in the resected specimen. In the latter, a rapid decrease of serum AFP level (T1/2 was less than 13 days) was observed in the effective cases. Preoperative chemotherapy is very useful if effective drugs are available. However, the most serious problem in this field is the lack of drugs active against hepatocellular carcinoma. Our recent results of phase II studies on hepatocellular carcinoma using various drugs were as follows adriamycin 6% (1/17), tegafur 7% (1/15), UFT 4% (1/26) and VP-16 5% (1/21). Development of a new active anticancer agent is thought to be essential if treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma is to advance.