Utilizing the technique of umbilical vein catheterization, serial hepatograms were obtained in 12 patients with proven liver metastases to demonstrate the size, location and extent of space occupying hepatic lesions and to measure their response to chemotherapy. Mass lesions were visualized in all the patients studied and lesions as small as 0.5 cm in diameter could be measured accurately. A reduction in size of the hepatic metatases occurred in 5 patients. The change in tumor size was variable among lesions in any given patient with the greatest reduction usually observed with the smaller lesions. The method is accurate and reproducible, exceeds the accuracy of currently available methods for demonstrating hepatic tumors and appears to be a useful method for an objective evaluation of the therapeutic effectiveness of anticancer drugs in patients with liver metastases.
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