DISAPPEARANCE OF PULMONARY METASTASES BY OK-432 TREATMENT IN A CASE OF HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

We report here a case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with multiple lung metastases, which were disappeared by treatment of OK-432. The pa tient was a 65-year-old man and was diagnosed in 1986 with a small (17 x 11 mm) HCC in the anterior-superior segment of the liver. A part of the right hepatic lobe including the tumor was surgically removed, an d transarterial injections of adriamycin (10 mg/week) and subcutaneous injections of OK-432 (10 KE/week) were given. Two and a half years la ter, recurrence of HCC in the liver and its invasion to vena cava infe rior (IVC) were found. OK-432 administration was then stopped and perc utaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT) was performed 10 times. Six months later, the PEIT was effective and the liver tumor with IVC inva sion diminished. However, multiple lung metastases were visible on roe ntgenograms of the chest, and serum alphafetoprotein (AFP) concentrati on increased to 50,000 ng/ml. The OK-432 treatment resumed. After 6 mo nths of OK-432 treatment, the multiple lung metastases were disappeare d and the serum AFP level decreased to 100 ng/ml. At present, the pati ent is surviving without any sign of recurrence in either the liver or the lung. The clinical course of this case suggests that OK-432 might have effectively treated lung metastases of HCC, although the exact m echnisms are at present unclear.