[Chemotherapy alone or as adjuvant treatment to surgery for alveolar and cystic echinococcosis].

An overview is presented of the various therapy options in cystic and alveolar echinococcosis based on the recent literature and upon personal experience with chemotherapy over the last 20 years. In regions with an optimal surgical infrastructure and relatively small patient cohorts, long-term chemotherapy is practically limited to patients with inoperable echinococcosis, i. e. < 10 % cystic and around 70 % alveolar echinococcosis.