Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Locker, Gottfried J
• Mader, Robert M
• Steiner, Birgit
• Wenzl, Etienne
• Zielinski, Christoph C
• Steger, Guenther G

Titel

Benefit of interferon-α2b in a patient with unresectable hepatoma and chronic infection with hepatitis C virus

Ist Teil von

• European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology, 2000-02, Vol.12 (2), p.251-253

Ort / Verlag

Hagerstown, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2000

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Only in a small proportion of patients is advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resectable, so the need for effective non-surgical treatments is obvious. We present details of a 72-year-old woman with inoperable HCC and chronic infection with hepatitis C virus, proved by the presence of antibodies directed against hepatitis C virus and positive polymerase chain reaction. The patient was treated with subcutaneous recombinant human interferon-alpha-2b. Within a few weeks, a partial tumour remission, paralleled by a decrease in serum levels of tumour markers and liver enzymes, was observed. In addition, polymerase chain reaction became negative. This observation facilitates the hypothesis that the anti-viral effects of interferon might have been jointly responsible for the anti-tumour activity observed. Interferon-alpha might serve as a treatment option in patients with unresectable hepatoma and chronic active viral hepatitis, but prospective studies are warranted. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 12:251-253 © 2000 Lippincott Williams & WilkinsEuropean Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2000, 12:251-253