Successful treatment of giant infantile hemangioma with a multi-drug combination of vincristine and other drugs

For some infantile hemangiomas that are large or located deep, a single treatment method is often ineffective, and a combination of 2 or more drugs is needed, etc. The child, male, 5 months old, was first diagnosed on August 25, 2011. Diagnosis: right facial giant hemangioma, treatment: propranolol 10mg, orally 1 time/d. After 2 months of medication, the lesion did not shrink significantly and grew slowly. He was diagnosed as infantile hemangioma after a puncture cytology examination at Fudan University Cancer Hospital, and continued to take propranolol orally with prednisone (5mg every other day). After continuing to take the drug for 1 month, there was still no significant change in the lesion. After obtaining the consent of the child’s parents, vincristine 0.3mg was given at 1mg/m2 with 20ml of saline by sedation for 1 time/2 weeks. After 1 month of medication, the texture of the lesion became softer and slightly reduced, and after 3 months, the lesion was significantly reduced. After 4 months, the vincristine was discontinued and propranolol 10mg was taken twice/d to promote further regression of the hemangioma and prevent rebound. 1 month later, propranolol was gradually discontinued and closely observed. The child’s facial hemangioma regressed and the deformity improved, and no abnormality was seen at the 6-month follow-up. The results of treatment with propranolol→prednisone→vincristine→propranolol in this case were surprising, suggesting that for patients with refractory hemangioma who do not do well with monotherapy, the combination of multiple drugs such as vincristine can be expected to achieve good results. No significant adverse effects were observed during the drug administration.