Results
Title

Systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

Authors

Se Hoon Park; Yuna Lee; Sang Hoon Han; So Young Kwon; Oh Sang Kwon; Sun Suk Kim; Ju Hyun Kim; Yeon Ho Park; Jeong Nam Lee; Soo-Mee Bang; Eun Kyung Cho; Dong Bok Shin; Jae Hoon Lee

Abstract

Background: Although numerous chemotherapeutic agents have been tested, the role of systemic chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been clarified. New therapeutic strategies are thus needed to improve outcomes, and we designed this study with new effective drug combination. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with histologically-confirmed, metastatic HCC received a combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on day 1, plus capecitabine 2000 mg/m2/day as an intermittent regimen of 2 weeks of treatment followed by a 1-week rest. Results: The median age was 49 years (range, 32-64) and 19 patients were hepatitis B virus seropositive. Child-Pugh class was A in all patients and 4 had Zubrod performance status of 2. The objective response rate was 24% (95% CI 9-40) with 6 stable diseases. The chemotherapy was generally well tolerated despite one treatment-related death. Conclusion: Combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine produced modest antitumor activity with tolerable adverse effects in patients with metastatic HCC.

Subjects

DOXORUBICIN; CISPLATIN; DRUG therapy; CANCER treatment; ONCOLOGY

Publication

BMC Cancer, 2006, Vol 6, p3

ISSN

1471-2407

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1186/1471-2407-6-3