Case report: adenosquamous carcinoma of the liver successfully treated with repeated transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy (TACE) with degradable starch microspheres.

This report describes a 58-year-old female with adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) of the liver presenting with right lower abdominal pain. In most ASC of the liver, surgery is the first choice of treatment. However, surgery often seems to be ineffective because of the aggressive behaviour of this disease. At surgical laparotomy in the present case, there was a large tumour occupying the entire right lobe of the liver and invading the diaphragm. Thus, partial hepatectomy was performed. For the residual tumour, we performed repeated transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy with degradable starch microspheres (DSM). After four sessions of transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy, tumour size decreased remarkably and tumour markers had also decreased. Despite the poor prognosis, the patient remains alive and well 12 months after laparotomy. It is suggested that minimally invasive transcatheter infusion chemotherapy with DSM can be an effective treatment preserving a high quality of life.