Tumour ablation and hepatic decompensation rates in multi-agent chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma. (1/507)

Thirty-seven cirrhotic patients with 62 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) foci--most Child-Pugh class B or C and/or with large, inoperable tumours--underwent 148 sessions of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) using lipiodol, doxorubicin and cisplatin. Treatment efficacy was assessed by serial hepatic arteriography in 34/37 (91.9%) patients and abdominal CT scanning in 3/37 (8.1%) patients. Child-Pugh status was determined prior to each treatment session. Varying degrees of control of tumour neovascularity occurred for a median 390 days (range 90 to > 1680 days) in 33/34 (97.1%) patients in whom progress hepatic arteriography was performed. Ablation of tumour neovascularity occurred in 6/6 (100%), 4/12 (33.3%) and 6/16 (37.5%) patients with HCC diameters < 4 cm, 4-7 cm and > 8 cm, respectively (p < 0.02). Significantly more sessions were required for ablation of larger tumours (p < 0.05). Recurrent HCC was detected in 50% of patients after a median 240 days (range 60-1120 days). Deterioration in Child-Pugh status followed a session of TACE on 19/148 (12.8%) occasions but resulted in unscheduled hospitalization on only 4/148 (2.7%) occasions, the highest incidence (8.3%) in Child-Pugh C patients. Actuarial survival was 27/36 (75.0%) at 6 months, 17/34 (50.0%) at 12 months, 14/34 (41.2%) at 18 months, 9/31 (29.0%) at 24 months and 4/27 (14.8%) at 36 months. Multi-agent TACE with lipiodol, doxorubicin and cisplatin provides a useful anti-tumour effect, even in cirrhotic patients with large HCCs. The incidence of clinically significant deterioration in hepatic function due to ischaemia of non-tumorous liver is acceptably low, even in Child-Pugh C patients.  (+info)

Medullary thyroid carcinoma with multiple hepatic metastases: treatment with transcatheter arterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection. (2/507)

A 54-year-old man with medullary thyroid carcinoma in the thyroid gland was unable to undergo total thyroidectomy because the tumor had invaded the mediastinum. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy were given. Seven years later, intractable diarrhea and abdominal pain appeared, and computed tomography demonstrated hypervascular tumors in the thyroid gland and in the liver. The tumors were successfully treated with percutaneous ethanol injection to a lesion in the thyroid gland and transcatheter arterial embolization followed by percutaneous ethanol injection to tumors in the liver. Transcatheter arterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection may be valuable in treating medullary thyroid carcinoma.  (+info)

Feasibility and toxicity of chemoembolization for children with liver tumors. (3/507)

PURPOSE: To determine the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of hepatic arterial chemoembolization (HACE) in pediatric patients with refractory primary malignancies of the liver. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six patients with hepatoblastoma (HB), three with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and two with undifferentiated sarcoma of the liver were treated with HACE every 2 to 4 weeks until their tumors became surgically resectable or they showed signs of disease progression. All but one newly diagnosed patient with HCC had previously received systemic chemotherapy. RESULTS: All patients with HB and HCC responded to HACE, as measured by imaging studies and alpha-fetoprotein levels. Surgical resection (complete or microscopic residual disease) was feasible in five of 11 patients, and three patients remain alive with no evidence of disease. Elevated liver transaminase and bilirubin levels were seen after each one of the 46 courses of HACE. Other toxicities included fever, pain, nausea, vomiting, and transient coagulopathy. CONCLUSION: HACE is feasible, well tolerated, and effective in inducing surgical resectability of primary hepatic tumors in children.  (+info)

Resection of nonresectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer after percutaneous portal vein embolization. (4/507)

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE) on the long-term outcome of liver resection for colorectal metastases. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Preoperative PVE of the liver induces hypertrophy of the remnant liver and increases the safety of hepatectomy. METHODS: Thirty patients underwent preoperative PVE and 88 patients did not before resection of four or more liver segments. PVE was performed when the estimated rate of remnant functional liver parenchyma (ERRFLP) assessed by CT scan volumetry was less than 40%. RESULTS: PVE was feasible in all patients. There were no deaths. The complication rate was 3%. The post-PVE ERRFLP was significantly increased compared with the pre-PVE value. Liver resection was performed after PVE in 19 patients (63%), with surgical death and complication rates of 4% and 7% respectively. PVE increased the number of resections of more than four segments by 19% (17/88). Actuarial survival rates after hepatectomy with or without previous PVE were comparable: 81%, 67%, and 40% versus 88%, 61%, and 38% at 1, 3, and 5 years respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PVE allows more patients with previously unresectable liver tumors to benefit from resection. Long-term survival is comparable to that after resection without PVE.  (+info)

Malignant insulinoma which expressed a unique creatine kinase isoenzyme: clinical value of arterial embolization as a palliative therapy. (5/507)

A 76-year-old man with hypoglycemic coma was diagnosed as malignant insulinoma with multiple hepatic metastases. Embolization was done for two-thirds of the hepatic mass and it rapidly lowered the serum immunoreactive insulin. He was discharged without medication and has been free from hypoglycemia. After the embolization, the serum creatine kinase (CK) level increased transiently although there was no evidence of myocardial infarction. On electrophoresis, the CK activity showed an abnormal peak, suggesting mitochondrial CK. CK release after embolization has been reported in only a few cases with endocrine tumors, which might indicate some relationship between active energy metabolism and mitochondrial CK.  (+info)

Risk factors, prevention, and management of postoperative recurrence after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma. (6/507)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the current knowledge on the risk factors for recurrence, efficacy of adjuvant therapy in preventing recurrence, and the optimal management of recurrence after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The long-term prognosis after resection of HCC remains unsatisfactory as a result of a high incidence of recurrence. Prevention and effective management of recurrence are the most important strategies to improve the long-term survival results. METHODS: A review of relevant English articles was undertaken based on a Medline search from January 1980 to July 1999. RESULTS: Pathologic factors indicative of tumor invasiveness such as venous invasion, presence of satellite nodules, large tumor size, and advanced pTNM stage, are the best-established risk factors for recurrence. Active hepatitis activity in the nontumorous liver and perioperative transfusion also appear to enhance recurrence. Recent molecular research has identified tumor biologic factors such as the proliferative and angiogenic activities of the tumor as new risk factors for recurrence. There is a lack of convincing evidence for the efficacy of neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in preventing recurrence. Retrospective studies suggested that postoperative hepatic arterial chemotherapy might improve disease-free survival, but results were conflicting. For the management of postoperative recurrence, studies have consistently indicated that surgical resection should be the treatment of choice for localized recurrence, be it in the liver remnant or extrahepatic organs. Transarterial chemoembolization and percutaneous ethanol injection are widely used to prolong survival in patients with unresectable intrahepatic recurrence, and combined therapy with these two modalities may offer additional benefit. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the risk factors for postoperative recurrence provides a basis for logical approaches to prevention. Minimal surgical manipulation of tumors to prevent tumor cell dissemination, avoidance of perioperative blood transfusion, and suppression of chronic hepatitis activity in the liver remnant are strategies that may be useful in preventing recurrence. The efficacy of postoperative adjuvant regional chemotherapy deserves further evaluation. New concepts on the influence of tumor biologic factors such as angiogenic activity on recurrence of HCC suggest a potential role of novel approaches such as antiangiogenesis for adjuvant therapy in the future. Currently, the most realistic approach in prolonging survival after resection of HCC is early detection and aggressive management of recurrence. Randomized trials are needed to define the roles of various treatment modalities for recurrence and the benefit of multimodality therapy.  (+info)

Uterine fibroid embolization. (7/507)

Interventional radiologists have performed uterine artery embolization to treat women with emergency uterine bleeding since the 1970s. In this procedure, the physician guides a small angiographic catheter into the uterine arteries and injects a stream of tiny particles that decreases blood flow to the uterus. It is now considered a safe and highly effective nonsurgical treatment of women with symptomatic uterine fibroid tumors. Uterine fibroid embolization has several advantages over conventional hormonal suppression and surgical procedures, including avoidance of the side effects of drug therapy and the physical and psychologic trauma of surgery. In addition, after uterine fibroid embolization, patients can normally resume their usual activities several weeks earlier than they can after hysterectomy. Along with hysteroscopic resection, myolysis and laparoscopic myomectomy, uterine fibroid embolization widens treatment options for patients who desire to avoid hysterectomy.  (+info)

Nonsurgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. (8/507)

1. Outcome from nonsurgical treatment is directly related to stage of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and degree of liver function impairment. 2. Ablative percutaneous procedures, such as alcohol injection or radiofrequency thermal therapy, are most effective in the destruction of solitary tumors of 3 cm or less. 3. In most cases, nonsurgical treatments are not curative, but may slow tumor progression and can provide palliation. 4. Arterial embolization or chemoembolization has an antitumor effect, but it has not been shown to affect patient outcome. 5. Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal manipulation, and interferon have not been consistently effective in HCC. 6. Ablative procedures, embolization, and systemic chemotherapy should be avoided in patients with advanced cirrhosis.  (+info)

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