[Chemo-embolization in hepatic cancer--the mechanism of necrosis induction and subsequent surgical treatment].

1. A multidisciplinary treatment for hepatic malignancies, using transcatheter chemoembolization followed by surgical resection, was done in 13 patients. An acturial survival rate of one year of the present series was 89%, whereas that of TCE was 53% and that of surgical resection was 36%. 2. Complete tumor necrosis was noted in 8 cases and necrosis of capsular invasion was observed in 5 of 8 cases. 3. There were 3 cases of viable daughter nodes with or without viable portal emboli. 4. The effect of TCE on tumor necrosis could be initiated firstly by arterial embolization followed by obstruction of drainage vein which was caused by granulation tissue. Subsequently, a tumor capsule might be thicker, resulting the necrosis of capsular invasion. 5. Surgical indication for hepatic malignancies is, therefore, cases with low surgical risks regardless of TCE effect or with moderate surgical risks with incomplete TCE effect.