Immunomodulatory therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Hepatocellular carcinoma is probably the most common solid human malignancy in the world and its incidence in Egypt has dramatically increased during the last decade. In spite of the availability of different strategies for treating hepatocellular carcinoma in the form of surgical resection, transarterial embolization, percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, radiofrequency wave ablation and chemotherapy, a considerable percentage of cases were found not fit to go into one of all these modalities. On the other hand, the aqueous extracts of the European mistletoe plant [Viscum album] have been used for years for systemic nonspecific stimulation of the immune system in cancer therapy. This study tried to assess the effect of mistletoe [Viscum album] on the natural history of unresected HCC, on one side, and its role in preventing postoperative recurrence after surgically resected cases, on the other side. Thirty-three patients with advanced unresectable HCC represented the first group in this study and 10 cases of post surgical resection were included in the second group. Mistletoe proved itself as a save medication easily tolerable with minimal side effects, it improves the quality of life through immunological pathway, but in this study it failed to demonstrate any significant effect in the progression or limitation of the size of the tumor nor on prevention of recurrence after postoperative resection