Comparison of the anticancer effect of ADMOS alone and ADMOS with CDDP in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma by intra-arterial injection.

A total of 135 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were treated by intra-arterial injection of an Adriamycin/mitomycin C oil (lipiodol) suspension (ADMOS) alone or of ADMOS plus cis-diammine-dichloroplatinum (CDDP). In all, 59 patients were treated with ADMOS alone and 76 were treated with ADMOS plus CDDP. A reduction of more than 25% in the tumor size was obtained in 13 of 38 (34%) evaluable patients in the former group and in 39 of 76 (51%) evaluable patients in the latter group. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels decreased by more than 50% in 10 of 17 (59%) and 23 of 33 (70%) patients in the respective groups whose pretreatment AFP level was estimated to be over 200 ng/ml. Overall, the 1-year survival value was 68% and the 2-year value was 41% as determined by the Kaplan-Meier method. No statistically significant difference in survival was observed between the two groups. The initial tumor response correlated with the survival value. No severe complication was encountered except for one case of liver abscess formation. No serious change in the laboratory data was observed following treatment with these regimens. Although the tumor response was significantly better in patients treated with ADMOS combined with CDDP injection than in those treated with ADMOS alone (P < 0.05), no significant difference in survival was found between the two groups.