Clinical application of thermo-chemoembolization for primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective:To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of thermo-chemoembolization for the treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods:A total of 41 cases of primary liver cancer were randomly divided into two groups:① transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) with heated liquid mixed with chemicals and lipiodol group (study group,n = 20);②common TACE with non-heated mixture group (control group,n=21).The tumor size of the two groups were 3-16 cm (mean 7.09 cm) for the study group and 2.5-13 cm (mean 7.43 cm) for the control group,respectively.The largest diameter for the multiple tumors were measured.The preoperative data including age,sex,tumor size,liver function,and KPS score of the two groups showed no statistical significance ( P 0.05).Patients pre and postoperative clinical parameters such as symptom, tumor marker (AFP),tumor images (CT or MRI),liver function,survival time,etc.were recorded.All patients were followed up for 3-24 months.Results:Study group:median tumor size and AFP values before and after treatment were 30 cm~2 , (1522.8±1067.1)ng/ml and 14.87 cm~2 ,(355.6±321.4) ng/ml,respectively.While for the control group,these data were 56 cm~2 ,(1164.5 + 891.4)ng/ml and 44.8 cm~2 ,(211.3 + 259.6)ng/ml,respectively.The differences before and after treatment were statistically significant ( P 0.05) for the both groups.However,besides these two parameters,liver function change also showed no significance( P 0.05) between these groups.The survival rate of 3,6,12,18,24 months of study and control group were 100% ,90% ,75% ,40% ,20%;100% ,66.67% ,42.68% ,28.57% ,9.52% respectively,the difference was statistically significant ( P 0.05).Conclusion:The efficacy of the thermo-chemoembolization for the treatment of primary liver cancer is better than that with common TACE without increasing the damage of the liver.It can accelerate tumor necrosis and prolong survival.