Twenty-four patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were treated with 80 mg etoposide/m2 for five consecutive days at 4-week intervals. Of the 21 patients evaluated, only one showed a partial response (of 8 weeks, duration). The dose-limiting factor was bone marrow suppression. Grades 3 and 4 white blood cell count toxicity occurred in five (24%) and two (10%) patients, respectively. Alopecia (grades 1 and 2) was observed in 18 patients (57%). The The present study indicates that etoposide has very limited activity against hepatocellular carcinoma.