A Surgically Treated Long-term Survivor of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Tumor Thrombi in the Trunk of the Portal Vein

Prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with tumor thrombi (TT) in the trunk of the portal vein (PV) has been extremely poor. There have been few reports of long-term survivors with such an advanced condition. In this article, the case of a 62-year-old woman of HCC, who survived for 6 years and 9 months after an operation, with TT in the trunk of the PV is described. The patient not only had a primary tumor of 4 cm in diameter with TT but also multiple intrahepatic metastases in the bilateral lobe of the liver. A palliative lateral segmentectomy with tumor thrombectomy through the incised left first branch of the PV was performed. Moreover, an intraoperative ethanol injection for residual intrahepatic metastatic tumors was performed subsequently. Hepatic arterial infusion of anti-cancer drug with Lipiodol, intraportal continuous infusion of 5-FU and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy were performed suitably during the follow-up periods. The patient survived for 6 years and 9 months after operaton and died of hepatic insufficiency with cancer. In this case a patient who suffered from HCC with TT in the trunk of the PV was successfully treated by multimodality procedures including hepatic resection with tumor thrombectomy.