Journal of hepatocellular carcinoma
August 19, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Intratumoral Para-Toluenesulfonamide (PTS) Injection for Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma Adjacent to the Heart: A Case Report.
Chiang CL, Liao CY, Lin MY, Yang CC.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
A case report describes sustained complete response of recurrent HCC adjacent to the heart after CT-guided intratumoral para-toluenesulfonamide injection when other options were exhausted.
What was studied
Single case report of an 87-year-old man with recurrent segment VIII HCC refractory to RFA, six TAE sessions, and SBRT, treated under compassionate use with intratumoral PTS injection (total 11.5 mL).
Key findings
- Progressive loss of arterial enhancement on serial CT
- Complete response by mRECIST documented in September 2025 and sustained to April 2026
- AFP remained below 3.0 ng/mL; liver function preserved
- Small pneumothorax and transient pain resolved conservatively
Clinical relevance
This single case suggests intratumoral PTS may be a feasible salvage option for anatomically challenging HCC, but a case report cannot establish efficacy or safety.
Who should care
Limitations
Single case report under compassionate use; not generalizable.
Direct tumor injection with PTS achieved a complete response in one hard-to-treat HCC case, an approach worth further study.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) adjacent to the heart is difficult to treat when surgery and conventional locoregional therapies are no longer feasible. We report an 87-year-old man with recurrent segment VIII HCC that remained viable after radiofrequency ablation, six sessions of transarterial embolization (TAE), and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Following multidisciplinary review and regulatory approval for compassionate-use, the patient underwent CT-guided intratumoral para-toluenesulfonamide (PTS) injection. PTS (330 mg/mL) was administered as 5.0 mL on 13 March 2025 and 6.0 mL on 17 March 2025. A small residual enhancing focus was subsequently treated with an additional 0.5 mL on 24 June 2025, giving a total cumulative volume of 11.5 mL. Serial contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed progressive loss of arterial enhancement. Complete response according to the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) was documented in September 2025 and was sustained on follow-up CT obtained on 15 April 2026, with no evidence of local recurrence. Serum alpha-fetoprotein remained below 3.0 ng/mL and liver function was preserved. A small pneumothorax and transient post-procedural pain resolved with conservative management; no severe or life-threatening treatment-related adverse events were documented. This case suggests that CT-guided intratumoral PTS injection may represent a feasible salvage local treatment strategy for carefully selected patients with anatomically challenging recurrent HCC when established locoregional options are no longer feasible.
DOI
10.2147/jhc.s621524
PMID
42634652
PMCID
PMC13499989
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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