Chemotherapy of primary liver cancer

The therapy of primary liver cancer is still an unsolved problem. Until now, surgery has been the only therapeutic modality that can significantly increase the life‐span of patients in early stages of disease. Radiotherapy does not prolong the disease‐free interval. It is therefore important to explore possibilities of new therapeutic approaches, especially those of chemotherapy. Adequate trial data are available for methotrexate (MTX), 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU), chloroethyl‐cyclohexyl‐nitrosourea (CCNU), methyl‐CCNU, hydroxyurea, cytosine arabinoside, dimethyltriazenoimidazole carboxamide, actinomycin D, mitomycin C, and adriamycin. These findings show that these substances when used as single agents are not very active in the treatment of primary liver cancer. Exceptions are MTX given intraarterially, adriamycin, 5‐FU, and their combination. Experimental agents are triethyleneglycol diglycidil ether, DL‐serine bis(2‐chloro‐propyl)carbamate ester, butyryloxyethylglioxal dithiosemicarbazone, cobaltiproto‐porp...