Transarterial chemoembolization of hepatocelluler carcinoma with doxorubicin- eluting beads

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of transarterial(TACE) with doxorubicin delivery embolotherapy microspheres and compare with theother treatment methods at suitable patient groups with HCC.Materials and Methods: From february 2007 to april 2010, 45 patients (36men, 9 women) with HCC who were treated by DC Bead chemoembolization wereincluded to this study. The mean age of the patients were 59,7 (min:14 max:77). Theabdominal aortagraphy, selective celiac and SMA angiographies were performed andand DC Bead embolization was done as selective and superselective after the standardprocedures before the treatment. Patient follow-up and treatment efficacy wasperformed and evaluated to RECIST criteria.Results: The cumulative survival rates are established for 3 months, 6 months, 1year and 3 years as 97.4%, 94.7%, 74.5%, 61.% and 39.7% respectively. The patientswere grouped according to tumor size, etiologic factor, Child classification, Okuda andBarcelona Stagings and significant differences were determined between the groups.The longest living patient is on 40th month and still at follow up. The shortest survivaltime was 1 month. The procedural success was 100%. None of the patients developedlife-threatening complications.Conclusion: DC Bead TACE is a kind of treatment which is easily tolerable bypatients, has positive effects to survival time and life expectancy and has very few sideeffects. With these features DC Bead TACE is superior to the traditional TACEKeywords: HCC, Transarterial Chemoembolization, DC Bead