A case of gastric cancer with liver metastases successfully treated with combination therapy of systemic and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy

A 67-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of advanced gastric cancer associated with metastases to the liver, the lymph nodes along the lesser curvature and the infradiaphragmatic lymph nodes. As we considered the primary lesion and the liver metastases to be unresectable, we treated him with combination therapy of systemic and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy. The regimen of systemic chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin (CDDP) and UFT. Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy included 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), doxorubicin (DXR) and mitomycin C (MMC). We repeated this therapy six times. The size of the primary lesion and the lymph node metastases decreased significantly after the chemotherapy. The size of the liver metastases did not change, but they appeared to necrotize. The patient maintained a good quality of life during the therapy. He finally died of peritonitis carcinomatosa 18 months after the diagnosis. This case indicated that combination therapy of systemic and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy was effective in cases of unresectable gastric cancer associated with liver metastases.