Efficacy and problems of hepatic arterial chemotherapy with angiotensin II for liver metastasis from gastric cancer

Hepatic arterial chemotherapy with angiotensin II was performed on 11 patients with liver metastases from gastric cancer. Mitomycin C was injected for 10 minutes via implanted port, whose tip was located in the hepatic artery, when the mean systolic blood pressure rose to 50 percent above the level in the untreated state by intravenous administration of angiotensin II. After this procedure, 5-fluorouracil at 250 mg/day was continuously infused for 5-days. The response could be measured in 6 of all 11 cases (response rate, 55%). CR was found in 3 patients, PR in 3, NC in 1 and PD in 4. The fifty-percent survival period of responders was 362 days, against 239 days in non-responders. Even if the liver metastases completely disappeared, a recurrence could develop in the liver, bone, lung, peritoneum and lymph nodes. We concluded that this mode of chemotherapy effectively controlled liver metastases from gastric cancer, but it was necessary to follow up with second-line therapy for the recurrence of liver and the other organs.