Hepatic irradiation in the management of metastatic hormone-secreting tumors

Radiotherapy in the management of pancreatic islet cell tumors

Malignant islet cell tumors are commonly treated with surgical resection. Chemotherapy is reserved for residual, unresectable, or metastatic disease. The role for radiotherapy has not been clearly defined. This article describes three cases of advanced islet cell tumors treated effectively with radiotherapy. This experience, in addition to that from other published reports, suggests that radiotherapy is a useful mode for treating advanced islet cell carcinoma.

Intrahepatic infusional therapy for metastatic ovarian carcinoma

Twenty-four women with ovarian carcinoma that had metastasized to the liver were treated with intrahepatic infusional therapy. No consistent drug regimen was used. There were no complete responders; however, 33% had a partial response. All responses were noticed after the first course of therapy. The median length of response was 6.3 months. The median survival from the time of the first hepatic infusion was 7.5 months for all patients. In this series, there were two treatment-related deaths, one secondary to the chemotherapy, the other to improper catheter placement. Because of the multiplicity of chemotherapy regimens employed, no definite conclusions can be made concerning the efficacy of intrahepatic infusional therapy for metastatic ovarian carcinoma. It is suggested that its future use be restricted to patients with disease limited to the liver and who are being treated according to a study protocol.