Clinical efficacy of hepatic artery chemoembolization combined with systemic treatment in the treatment of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma with abdominal lymph node metastasis / 中华消化外科杂志

In China, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are usually with late stage and long medical history when diagnosed, resulting in a lower 5-year survival rate. For advanced HCC, guidelines from different countries have different indications for local treatment. The applica-tion of hepatic artery chemoembolization has brought new treatment opportunities to patients with advanced HCC. Due to tumor heterogeneity, the response to immunotherapy is different in patients with intrahepatic recurrent lesions and extrahepatic metastatic lesions of primary hepatic carcinoma. Therefore, hepatic artery chemoembolization combined with systemic treatment is beneficial to prolong the survival of patients. The authors introduce the clinical experience of a patient with recurrent advanced HCC combined with abdominal lymph node metastasis who was treated with hepatic artery chemoembolization combined with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. The results show that tumor is controlled in a short period with a good clinical effect.

A new thermosensitive embolic agent used for arterial embolization of primary hepatocellular carcinoma:preliminary clinical trial / 介入放射学杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical application of a new thermosensitive embolic agent in interventional arterial embolization treatment, and to evaluate its effectiveness and safety in treating inoperable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Prospective, open and single center clinical study of a new thermosensitive embolic agent was conducted. A total of 10 patients with clinically confirmed inoperable advanced HCC were treated with percutaneous arterial embolization using thermosensitive embolic agent; a maximum of 4 therapeutic cycles were performed until the disease progressed. Objective effect was evaluated at (30 ±7) days after the treatment according to mRECIST standard; the progression free survival (PFS) time and the survival period (OS) were recorded. The adverse reactions and adverse events were determined by NCI-CTC 3.0 version standard. Results Ten patients (23 target lesions in total) were enrolled in this study. After the treatment, complete remission (CR) was obtained in one patient, partial remission (PR) in 3 patients, stable disease (SD) in 5 patients, and progress disease (PD) in one patient. The objective response rate (CR+PR) was 40%, and the disease control rate (CR+PR+SD) was 90%. The PFS of hepatic lesions was 18.4 weeks (95%CI:14.15-22.65), the cumulated median survival period was 46.2 weeks (95%CI:38.18-54.22). The most common adverse reactions included pain, fever, hepatic function damage, small amount of ascites, diarrhea, etc. Conclusion The new thermosensitive embolic agent is not sticky to vessel and is visible under X-ray; it has reliable embolization effect, and the therapeutic results can be easily evaluated. This embolic agent is not perfect, and it has some limitations in clinical use. The adverse reactions are mild, which can be easily tolerated by the patients. It is worth trying to carry out large sample and randomized controlled studies in order to open up more areas for arterial chemoembolization therapy of tumors.

Balloon dilation and airway stenting for benign and malignant tracheal stenosis / 介入放射学杂志

Objective To assess the effectiveness of balloon dilation and airway stenting performed under fluoroscopic guidance for the treatment of benign and malignant tracheal stenosis. Methods Under fluoroscopic guidance,balloon dilation and airway stenting were performed in 45 patients with tracheobronchial stricture. Of the 45 patients, malignant tracheal stenosis was seen in 37, including mediastinal nodal metastases (n = 14), esophageal carcinoma (n=13), lung carcinoma (n = 4), adenocarcinoma of bronchus (n = 3), lymphoma (n = 2) and laryngocarcinoma (n = 1), and benign tracheal stenosis was seen in 8, including endobronchial tuberculosis (n = 6), retrosternal thyroid adenoma (n = 1) and endotracheal intubation (n = 1). Airway stenting with serf-expandable metal stent was employed in 38 patients and balloon dilation in 7 patients. All the procedures were performed under fluoroscopic guidance. Results A total of 53 self-expandable metal stents was implanted in 38 patients. The clinical symptoms were immediately relived after the procedure in all patients except for one patient who died from choking of sputum. No stent migration was observed. Restenosis developed in 4 patients, which was successfully treated with repeated stenting and balloon dilation. Nineteen times of balloon dilation procedure were accomplished in 7 patients. Marked remission of clinical symptoms was seen in most cases. During a follow-up period (ranged from 0 to 124 months with a mean of 24.5 months) 31 patients died. Conclusion For both benign and malignant tracheal stenosis, balloon dilation with airway stenting performed under fluoroscopic guidance is a safe and efficient therapy with instant curative effect in relieving clinical symptoms.