Combination Therapy with S-1 and Pegylated Interferon Alpha for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.pdf

Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch Oncology 2008;75(suppl 1):106–113 DOI: 10.1159/000173431 Combination Therapy with S-1 and Pegylated Interferon Alpha for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Kazuomi Ueshima Masatoshi Kudo Tomoyuki Nagai Chie Tatsumi Taisuke Ueda Shunsuke Takahashi Kinuyo Hatanaka Satoshi Kitai Emi Ishikawa Tatsuo Inoue Satoru Hagiwara Yasunori Minami Hobyung Chung Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kinki University School of Medicine, Osaka-Sayama , Japan (18.2%), leukopenia (9.1%), anemia (9.1%), and thrombocyto- penia (18.2%) were observed. Grade 4 toxicities were not ob- served. Conclusion: Combination therapy with S-1 and PEG- IFN is effective and feasible, and is therefore a promising regimen for advanced HCC. Copyright ? 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in Asia, including Japan. It is gen- erally known that persistent infections with hepatitis B and C viruses are the main risk factor for liver carcino- genesis. Therefore, it is easy to detect HCC in its early stage. Consequently, early detection of HCC has made early treatment possible. However, most cases of HCC are still detected at an advanced stage. There are several op- tions of treatment for patients with HCC such as surgical resection, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiofrequency ablation, percutaneous ethanol injection, and liver transplantation. However, the prog- nosis of patients with advanced HCC, which often spreads to the portal vein or to the extrahepatic organs, or which Key Words Hepatocellular carcinoma, advanced  S-1  Pegylated interferon alpha Abstract Purpose: There are currently no effective treatments for pa- tients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with vascular invasion or extrahepatic metastases. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with S