Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein thrombosis by sorafenib combined with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy.

Abstract

Treatment with sorafenib prolongs both the median survival and time to progression by nearly 3 months in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the effects of combining sorafenib therapy with other anticancer treatment modalities have not been clarified, combination treatment is strongly expected to be beneficial. We report the case of a 50-year-old man who exhibited a partial response and portal vein thrombosis (PVT) revascularization after sorafenib combined with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC). He exhibited a decrease in tumor size and PVT after 2 months of sorafenib monotherapy. However, no additional response was seen during the subsequent 2 months. To achieve a better tumor response, we combined HAIC with sorafenib. Daily cisplatin (7 mg/m(2) on days 1-5) and 5-fluorouracil (170 mg/m(2) on days 1-5) were infused repeatedly every 4 weeks, and the sorafenib prescription was modified. After four cycles of combined therapy, both the tumor size and PVT were much improved and exhibited partial response.