Hepatic IA Therapy in Stage B or Limited Stage C Hepatoma (HCC)

Intra-arterial (IA) therapy is generally used to treat HCC tumors that are too extensive to excise or treat with potentially curative local therapy. IA therapy takes advantage of the fact that the blood supply of HCC comes predominantly from the hepatic artery compared with the surrounding normal liver which is predominantly supplied by portal venous blood. The intent is to deprive the HCC of its blood supply, leading to the death of the tumor. Traditionally, various methods have been used to block the HCC blood supply, but improvements are needed. This study will investigate a new agent designed in the laboratory to block only tumor blood vessels, not blood vessels in the normal liver.