Open AccessEmbolization of liver tumors: Past, present and future
Author(s) -
Ashwin Rammohan,
Jeswanth Sathyanesan,
Sukumar Ramaswami,
Anand Lakshmanan,
Perumal Senthil-Kumar,
Ulagendra Perumal Srinivasan,
Ravi Ramasamy,
Ravichandran Palaniappan
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
world journal of radiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1949-8470
DOI - 10.4329/wjr.v4.i9.405
Subject(s) - medicine , liver transplantation , hepatocellular carcinoma , embolization , resection , palliative therapy , radiology , randomized controlled trial , curative treatment , chemotherapy , transplantation , surgery , disease
Curative therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), such as resection and liver transplantation, can only be applied in selected patients with early tumors. More advanced stages require local or systemic therapies. Resection of HCC offers the only hope for cure. Even in patients undergoing resection, recurrences are common. Chemoembolization, a technique combining intra-arterial chemotherapy with selective tumor ischemia, has been shown by randomized controlled trials to be efficacious in the palliative setting. There is now renewed interest in transarterial embolization/transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with regards to its use as a palliative tool in a combined modality approach, as a neoadjuvant therapy, in bridging therapy before transplantation, for symptomatic indications, and even as an alternative to resection. There have also been rapid advances in the agents being embolized trans-arterially (genes, biological response modifiers, etc.). The current review provides an evidence-based overview of the past, present and future trends of TACE in patients with HCC.