Hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy proves to be advantageous in the treatment of experimental liver tumors.

To evaluate the best locoregional approach in the treatment of hepatic tumors we investigated four different treatment modalities. Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to the following treatment groups: (1) untreated control; (2) hepatic artery ligation; (3) hepatic artery ligation plus portal 5-FU chemotherapy; (4) arterial 5-FU chemotherapy; (5) portal 5-FU chemotherapy. All animals received Novikoff hepatoma cells inoculated in the median liver lobe. After tumor inoculation animals were treated according to their randomization and surgery was performed for repeated tumor size measurements. Through hepatic artery ligation, hepatic artery ligation plus portal 5-FU infusion as well as through arterial 5-FU infusion a significant tumor growth inhibition compared to the untreated control could be achieved. The portal infusion group even showed an accelerated tumor growth; however, this effect was not significant. We conclude that the intraarterial application in terms of clinical feasibility and duration of response should be the preferred approach in locoregional therapy of liver malignancies.