A Clinical Study of Hepatocellar Carcinoma with Bone Metastasis after Hepatectomy

Kyoji Takekuni, Yo Sasaki, Shingi Imaoka, Terumasa Yamada, Hiroaki Ohigashi, Masao Kameyama, Masahiro Hiratsuka, Toshiyuki Kabuto, Osamu Ishikawa and Hiroshi Furukawa

Department of Surgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease

We investigated the clinical course and the therapeutic outcomes for 11 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) coexisting with bone metastasis after hepatectomy between 1989 and 1997. Bone metastasis of HCC very frequently occurred in the advanced stage, and intrahepatic recurrence was the main cause of death in most cases (72%). Cases of solitary bone metastasis were alive longer than 1 year after bone metastasis, and their prognoses were relatively good. Most therapies for bone metastasis were performed conservatively to reduce the pain The resection of the bone was performed in 3 patients. Though the bone metastases of these patients were progressive and finally changed to multiple foci, they had longer survivals than the other patients and took longer painless period. For HCC patients whose intrahepatic lesion is controllable and the metastatic bone lesion is solitary and easily resectable, resection of the lesions seemed to be effective as the intensive therapy for HCC with bone metastasis.

Key words
hepatocellar carcinoma with bone metastasis, resection of bone metastasis

Reprint requests
Kyoji Takekuni Department of Surgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases 1-3-3 Nakamichi, Higashinari-ku, Osaka, 537-8511 JAPAN

Accepted
November 30, 1999

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