Abstract
Eleven patients with malignant melanoma metastatic to the liver were treated with hepatic arterial chemoembolization using cisplatin and gelatin sponge. Nine cases had ocular melanoma, and two had cutaneous melanoma as the origin. In all the cases, multiple tumor metastases were already present when they were detected initially. The dose of cisplatin was set at 70 mg/m2. Complete response of the tumor was observed in one patient and partial response was observed in the two other patients (response ratio: 23.0%). The median survival for the entire group was 14 months. Upper abdominal pain, appetite loss, nausea, and elevation of liver enzymes were observed as treatment related morbidity factors but lasted briefly. Elevation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) before chemoembolization was the only statistically significant poor prognostic factor (p=0.0044, Log-rank test). Hepatic arterial chemoembolization prolonged survival time with less treatment-related morbidity among these melanoma patients with multiple metastases to the liver.
