J Cancer 2020; 11(15):4534-4541. doi:10.7150/jca.39410 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Interventional Treatment Center, Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
2. Zhejiang Provincial Research Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatobiliary Diseases, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
3. Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of doxorubicin-loaded drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) with CalliSpheres microspheres (CSM) in treating unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).
Methods: 88 unresectable ICC patients who received DEB-TACE treatment with CSM were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Information about treatment response, survival and adverse events were collected. The Kaplan-Meier curve was used to evaluate progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and factors affecting OS were determined by Cox's proportional hazards regression model.
Results: Tumor response of the whole sample of 88 patients was partial response (PR) in 58 (65.9%) patients, stable disease (SD) in 19 (21.6%) and progressive disease (PD) in 11 (12.5%) at one month after therapy, with no complete responses (CR). The median PFS and OS were 3.0 months and 9.0 months respectively. Cox's proportional hazards regression analysis disclosed that subsequent treatment was an independent favorable prognostic factor, while cholangiectasis, extensive intrahepatic tumor burden and extrahepatic metastasis were the three prognostic factors associated with poor survival in ICC patients. Besides, common adverse events included nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain and transient elevation of liver transaminase in patients treated by DEB-TACE with CSM.
Conclusion: DEB-TACE with CSM is safe and well-tolerated for unresectable ICC patients, with a low complication rate and a relative benefit in terms of survival. Subsequent treatments including systemic/loco-regional treatments is an independent favorable prognostic factor, but cholangiectasis, extensive intrahepatic tumor burden and extrahepatic metastases are the three prognostic factors associated with poor survival.
Keywords: Transarterial chemoembolization, Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, Drug-eluting beads, Prognostic factors, CalliSpheres microspheres