The related to the fibrotic indicators of primary hepatocellular carcinoma patients after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

Objective To determine whether transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) can aggravate the formation of hepatic fibrosis in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods We determined the contents of serum procollagen type Ⅲ (PCⅢ), collagen type Ⅳ(Ⅳ. C), hyaluronate acid (HA) and laminin (LN) of 20 patients with HCC who had received three cycles of TACE. Twenty normal individuals were employed to serve as the controls. Results Four indicators of hepatic fibrosis were significantly increased in patients with HCC as compared with the normal controls (P0 05). Before and after the first duration of TACE, the four fibrotic indicators did not markedly rise. However, these indicators remarkably rose (P0 05) after the second duration of TACE as compared with those before TACE. Furthermore, significant increase of these indicators was found after the third duration of TACE (P0 01). Conclusions The repeated duration of TACE will intensify the liver damage. More attention should be paid to protecting hepatic function and preventing liver fibrosis after TACE.