Drug-Eluting Beads versus Lipiodol Transarterial Chemoembolization for the Treatment of Hypovascular Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

• Main Authors: Shi Q, Chen D, Zhou C, Liu J, Huang S, Yang C, Xiong B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-07-01
• Series: Cancer Management and Research
• Subjects: hypovascular hepatocellular carcinoma; drug-eluting beads; transarterial chemoembolization; tumor-feeding artery; survival
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/drug-eluting-beads-versus-lipiodol-transarterial-chemoembolization-for-peer-reviewed-article-CMAR

Qin Shi,1,2,* Dandan Chen,2,3,* Chen Zhou,1,2 Jiacheng Liu,1,2 Songjiang Huang,1,2 Chongtu Yang,1,2 Bin Xiong1,2 1Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, People’s Republic of China; 2Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Wuhan 430022, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Ultrasound, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bin XiongDepartment of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [e-mail]: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) and conventional TACE (C-TACE) in treating hypovascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Materials and Methods: The medical records based on HCC patients who underwent TACE from January 2016 to June 2019 were reviewed in the study. The diagnosis of hypovascular HCC was conducted by two senior radiologists according to imaging. We evaluated the adverse events (AEs), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the study.Results: A total of 98 patients with hypovascular HCC were included in the study. 46 patients underwent DEB-TACE treatment, and 52 patients underwent C-TACE treatment. The PFS of DEB-TACE group and C-TACE group was 12.0 months and 7.0 months (P < 0.001), and OS was 21.0 months and 14.0 months (P = 0.035), respectively. In addition, DEB-TACE group had better ORR (76.1% vs 40.4%, P < 0.001) and DCR (91.3% vs 75.0%, P = 0.033) compared to C-TACE group. The occurrence rate of AEs showed no difference between the two groups (67.3% vs 57.7%, P = 0.323). Furthermore, we found that DEB-TACE can be identified as a positive independent prognostic factor for improved PFS and OS.Conclusion: DEB-TACE, as an effective treatment, can yield better objective response rate, similar safety profile and improved survival for hypovascular HCC patients compared to C-TACE.Keywords: hypovascular hepatocellular carcinoma, drug-eluting beads, lipiodol, transarterial chemoembolization, survival