[Clinical study on combination chemotherapy of primary liver cancer]

Three regimens were comparatively studied by a randomized trial in 95 patients with hepatic, biliary or pancreatic carcinomas: Group 1; Futraful (FT) alone, Group 2; FT plus cyclophosphamide (Ex), and Group 3; FT plus Carboquone (CQ). There was no difference in overall response rate among the three groups, evaluated by three valuables, i.e., improvement of subjective symptoms, improvement of laboratory examinations, and regression of the tumor. Group 2 demonstrated a favorable result in regression of the tumor as compared with other groups. In cases where the improvements of subjective symptoms and laboratory examinations were observed, the survival duration was prolonged, but in cases of the tumor regression, the survival was not prolonged. The improved survival rate was observed in Group 1, but neither in group 2 nor 3. There was no difference in the frequency of hematotoxicity among three groups (the frequency was as low as 3.4-8.8%). The frequency of side effect in subjective symptoms was 22% for the Group 1, 68% for the Group 2, and 62% for the Group 3, respectively.