Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma by intraarterial injection of adriamycin/mitomycin C oil suspension (ADMOS) alone or combined with cis-diaminodichloroplatinum (CDDP).

We evaluated the effects of intraarterial injection of Adriamycin/Mitomycin C oil (Lipiodol) suspension (ADMOS) alone and ADMOS+cis-diaminodichloroplatinum (CDDP) in 135 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 59 patients received ADMOS alone and 76 patients received ADMOS+CDDP (ADMOS/CDDP). Tumor size was reduced by over 25% in 13 (34%) of the evaluable 38 patients in the ADMOS-alone group and in 39 (51%) of the 76 evaluable patients in the ADMOS/CDDP group. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels decreased by more than 50% in 10 (59%) of 17 ADMOS-alone patients and in 23 (70%) of 33 ADMOS/CDDP patients whose pretreatment AFP levels were above 0.2 mg/l. The overall one- and 2-year survival rates were 68% and 41%, respectively. No severe complications and no significant changes in laboratory values were observed, except for one patient in the ADMOS/CDDP group who developed a liver abscess. Although the tumor response was significantly better in patients treated by ADMOS/CDDP than in those treated by ADMOS-alone (p < 0.05), there was no significant difference in the survival rates between the 2 groups. The intraarterial injection of ADMOS and CDDP was concluded to be effective in treating HCC judging by tumor response.