Intra-arterial administration of epirubicin in the treatment of nonresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Epirubicin Study Group for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

A group study was conducted to investigate the effect of intrahepatic arterial administration of epirubicin in the treatment of nonresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Sixty-four patients entered the study. There were 51 men and 13 women. The age range was from 32 to 79 years, with an average of 59.1. Fifty-four patients had associated cirrhosis of the liver. Epirubicin in a dose of 60-90 mg/m2 was infused as a bolus into the hepatic artery 1-4 times (average 1.8) at intervals of 3 weeks to 3 months. Tumor size was properly evaluated in 53 patients. There were 1 CR (complete responses), 7 PR (partial responses), 34 NC (no change), and 11 PD (progression of disease). Thus, the response rate (CR + PR) was 15.1%. Seventeen patients are still alive 305-730 days (mean 505 days) after the initial treatment. A higher dose and more treatment courses tended to produce a better result. The most common side effects of this drug were bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal symptoms, and alopecia. Cardiac toxicity was not observed with the doses used in this study. A retrospective comparison of the present result with that of patients treated by intra-arterial administration of doxorubicin demonstrated that epirubicin is more effective than doxorubicin in teams of survival rate.