Aim: Balloon-occluded transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (B-TACE) using a microballoon catheter was performed to administrate miriplatin, and the early therapeutic efficacy and safety of the procedure were evaluated.
Methods: Out of 158 patients who received miriplatin using B-TACE for hepatocellular carcinoma, 49 patients with a single lesion at either stage I or II (according to the Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan) were evaluated in comparison with 48 matched patients who received miriplatin using conventional TACE (C-TACE).
Results: The mean total dose and median dose of miriplatin in each group were 32.5 ± 31.7 mg and 20 mg (C-TACE) and 50.1 ± 31.3 mg and 40 mg (B-TACE), respectively (P < 0.01). The treatment effect (TE) on the target nodule classified as TE4, TE3, TE2 or TE1 was 39.6%, 33.3%, 25.0% and 2.1%, respectively, in the C-TACE group, and 55.1%, 38.8%, 4.1% and 2.0%, respectively, in the B-TACE group. Therefore, the TE was significantly higher in the B-TACE group (P < 0.05). Although abdominal blood tests revealed adverse, increased levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in a significantly higher number of B-TACE-treated patients, serum ALT levels returned to baseline levels in all patients within 1 month. There were no significant differences in clinical symptoms between the two groups.
Conclusion: Compared with C-TACE, B-TACE significantly improved cancer nodule control, and it was satisfactory in terms of safety. B-TACE is an effective procedure that enhances the effects of catheterization with miriplatin.
Keywords: balloon-occluded transcatheter arterial chemoembolization; hepatocellular carcinoma; miriplatin.
© 2014 The Japan Society of Hepatology.