RESUMO
About half of patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) have unresectable liver metastases (LMs) or liver-predominant disease (LPD). Unfortunately systemic chemotherapy has limited tumor response due to LMs are supplied by hepatic artery. Hepatic intra-arterial (HAI) have antitumor activity in pretreated patients with LMs. Here we report the case of a 55-year-old woman affected by BCLPD and heavily pretreated. LMs responded to treatment based on HAI with 5-fluorouracil and nab-paclitaxel systemic chemotherapy, and they completely disappeared on a CT-scan. We conclude that this combination chemotherapy is safe and may be very useful for the treatment of patients with BCLPD. Therefore, this combination should be evaluated in a large study.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA) has been demonstrated to be useful for the treatment of liver neoplasms. The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of the combination of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and RFA, performed simultaneously to treat primary and secondary liver neoplasms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From July 2006 to October 2007, 34 patients (21 with HCC and 13 with liver metastases) underwent 37 sessions of treatment. The schedule consisted of: induction TACE (with epirubicin, mitomycin C and lipiodol, or with doxorubicin/irinotecan loaded on microspheres), percutaneous RFA and second TACE. Monopolar RFA was used on 52 nodules, whereas the bipolar multiprobe technique was used in 6 cases. RESULTS: The treatment was well tolerated, with moderate hepatic and hematological toxicity. In total 51 nodules were evaluable for response, with technical success in 45/51 cases (88%). CONCLUSION: Combined TACE plus RFA is feasible and safe; the preliminary data make it a promising procedure with regard to efficacy and support further investigation.
