RADIATION-THERAPY IN THE UNRESECTABLE CAVERNOUS HEMANGIOMA OF THE LIVER

Hemangioma is the most common benign neoplasm of the liver, for which a 'wait and see' policy has been advised when it is small or without s ymptoms. Surgery is the treatment of choice of these tumors when marke d symptomatology is present. However, some of these lesions cannot be excised due to their size, multiplicity, location or medical condition s. In these patients, radiotherapy has been reported to give good resu lts with minor morbidity, suspending the tumor growth and decreasing t he symptomatology. Seven symptomatic patients were treated with radiot herapy with a dose of 15-30 Gray in 15-22 fractions. Improvement of th e quality of life was observed in all patients and the regression of t he tumor volume was confirmed by computed tomography in five, with a f ollow-up ranging from 40 to 67 months.