Combination therapy of intraarterial 5-fluorouracil and systemic interferon-alpha for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with portal venous invasion.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal venous invasion (PVI) has a very poor prognosis, with a median survival of 3 months and virtually no survival at 1 year. The combination of intraarterial 5-fluorouracil (FU) and systemic interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) was recently reported to be effective against HCC with PVI, but these were small pilot studies.

Methods: One hundred and sixteen patients with HCC with PVI received IFNalpha (5,000,000 U intramuscularly on Days 1, 3, and 5 of each week of treatment) and 5-FU (500 mg into hepatic artery on Days 1-5 of the first and second week of each 4-week cycle).