Effectiveness of drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization versus conventional transarterial chemoembolization for small hepatocellular carcinoma in Child-Pugh class A patients.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

This study aimed to compare the therapeutic effectiveness including progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety of conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) and drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) in a superselective fashion for the patients with nodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (n ⩽ 5) and Child-Pugh class A.

METHODS:

A total of 198 consecutive patients with nodular HCCs (n ⩽ 5) and Child-Pugh class A liver function who were initially treated with cTACE (n = 125) or DEB-TACE (n = 57) were included retrospectively. The primary endpoint was PFS. Secondary endpoints included time-to-target lesion progression (TTTLP), OS, and safety.

RESULTS:

The median follow up was 62 months (range, 1-87 months). The PFS was significantly longer in the cTACE group than in the DEB-TACE group (median, 18 months versus 7 months; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.658, log-rank p = 0.031), whereas OS was comparable (log-rank p = 0.299). TTTLP was significantly longer in the cTACE group than in the DEB-TACE group (median, 34 months versus 11 months; log-rank p < 0.001). In the stratification analysis based on tumor size, the cTACE group showed significantly longer TTTLP than the DEB-TACE group in the 1.0-2.0 cm and 2.1-3.0 cm subgroups (HR = 0.188, log-rank p < 0.001 and HR = 0.410, p = 0.015, respectively) but not in the 3.1-5.0 cm and 5.1-10.0 cm subgroups (all p > 0.05). Postembolization syndrome occurred more frequently in the cTACE group than in the DEB-TACE group (p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS:

DEB-TACE is followed by significantly shorter PFS than cTACE in patients with nodular HCCs (n ⩽ 5) and Child-Pugh class A, although OS is comparable. Postembolization syndrome occurs more frequently in cTACE than in DEB-TACE.

• Authors: In Joon Lee, Jeong-Hoon Lee, Yun Bin Lee, Yoon Jun Kim, Jung-Hwan Yoon, Yong Hu Yin, Myungsu Lee, Saebeom Hur, Hyo-Cheol Kim, Hwan Jun Jae, Jin Wook Chung
• Journal: Therapeutic advances in medical oncology (Ther Adv Med Oncol) Vol. 11 Pg. 1758835919866072 ( 2019) ISSN: 1758-8340 [Print] England
• PMID: 31447948 (Publication Type: Journal Article)