Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for liver metastases from breast cancer

Between 1985 and 1992, 56 patients with unresectable liver metastases from breast cancer were treated by repeated hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy employing an implantable port system. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) at 330 mg/m2 per week. Adriamycin (ADR) at 20 mg/m2 every 4 weeks, and mitomycin C (MMC) at 2.7 mg/m2 every 2 weeks were given to 42 patients. The remaining 14 patients received 5-FU at 330 mg/m2 per week and epirubicin (EPIR) at 20 mg/m2 every 2 weeks. As a rule, the treatment was performed on an outpatient basis. The side effects and complications observed included myelosuppression (41%), hepatic arterial occlusion (23%), and gastric mucositis (20%), but no major toxicity was encountered. The response rate (CR+PR) of the evaluated patients as determined from CT scans was 81%. The overall median survival period was 12.5 months. Only 14% of the patients died due to regrowth of liver metastases, and in 70% of the total cases, death due to liver metastases was avoided by this treatment. Thus, repeated hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for liver metastases from breast cancer might be capable of prolonging the survival of patients via avoidance of death due to the liver metastases.