A Prospective Phase II Study Evaluating Intraoperative Electrochemotherapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The aim of this clinical study was to investigate the effectiveness and long-term safety of electrochemotherapy as an emerging treatment for HCC in patients not suitable for other treatment options. A prospective phase II clinical study was conducted in patients with primary HCC who were not suitable for other treatment options according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification. A total of 24 patients with 32 tumors were treated by electrochemotherapy. The procedure was effective, feasible, and safe with some procedure-related side effects. The responses of the 32 treated nodules were: 84.4% complete response (CR), 12.5% partial response (PR), and 3.1% stable disease (SD). The treatment was equally effective for nodules located centrally and peripherally. Electrochemotherapy provided a durable response with local tumor control over 50 months of observation in 78.0% of nodules. The patient responses were: 79.2% CR and 16.6% PR. The median progression-free survival was 12 months (range 2.7-50), and the overall survival over 5 years of observation was 72.0%. This prospective phase II clinical study showed that electrochemotherapy was an effective, feasible, and safe option for treating HCC in patients not suitable for other treatment options.

Percutaneous image guided electrochemotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: technological advancement.

Background Electrochemotherapy is an effective treatment of colorectal liver metastases and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during open surgery. The minimally invasive percutaneous approach of electrochemotherapy has already been performed but not on HCC. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of electrochemotherapy with percutaneous approach on HCC. Patient and methods The patient had undergone the transarterial chemoembolization and microwave ablation of multifocal HCC in segments III, V and VI. In follow-up a new lesion was identified in segment III, and recognized by multidisciplinary team to be suitable for minimally invasive percutaneous electrochemotherapy. The treatment was performed with long needle electrodes inserted by the aid of image guidance. Results The insertion of electrodes was feasible, and the treatment proved safe and effective, as demonstrated by control magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusions Minimally invasive, image guided percutaneous electrochemotherapy is feasible, safe and effective in treatment of HCC.

Case report and literature review: patient with gastroduodenal intussusception due to the gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the lesser curvature of the gastric body.

BACKGROUND: Intussusception in adult patient is rare. Gastroduodenal intussusception due to the gastrointestinal stromal tumors is infrequently described in the literature. Authors present a case of gastroduodenal intussusception due to the low-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the lesser curvature of the gastric body with literature review. CASE PRESENTATION: Sixty-two-year-old male was admitted to our hospital with symptoms of acute gastric outlet obstruction. Imaging studies confirmed a lesion of the gastric wall producing gastroduodenal intussusception with pylorus obstruction. Upon laparotomy a tumor mass of the lesser curvature of the gastric body that invaginated through the pylorus into the duodenum was found. Desinvagination and resection of the tumor with the adequate resection margins were performed. Histology reveled a low-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Due to favorable outcome only observation was suggested by the multidisciplinary team. CONCLUSIONS: Gastroduodenal intussusception due to the gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the gastric wall is a rare event. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice. In selected cases laparosopic resection of the tumor can be performed.