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Purpose This article presents our experience regarding survival benefits in inoperable intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and advanced stage HCC treated with 131 I-lipiodol. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective study of intermediate stage HCC (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer [BCLC] stage B) not responding to prior treatment and/or advanced stage HCC (BCLC stage C) treated with 131 I-lipiodol. 131 I-lipiodol was injected into the hepatic artery through transfemoral route. Postprocedure, the patient was isolated for 5 to 7 days. All patients underwent tumor response evaluation after 4 weeks. Survival of patients was calculated up to either death or conclusion of the study. Results A total of 55 patients (52 males [94.5%], 3 females [5.4%]) were given intra-arterial 131 I-lipiodol therapy. The median overall survival after transarterial radioembolization (TARE) was 172 ± 47 days (95% confidence limit, 79-264 days). The overall survival at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months was 69, 47, 32, and 29%, respectively. A multivariate Cox regression analysis showed the presence of treatment prior to TARE to most significantly influence survival ( B = 2.161, p ≤ 0.001). This was followed by size of the lesion which was second in line ( B = 0.536, p = 0.034). Among 45 patients, 14 patients (31.1%) showed a partial response, 11 patients (24.4%) showed stable disease, and 20 patients (44.4%) showed progressive diseases. Conclusion TARE with 131 I-lipiodol can be a safe and effective palliative treatment in advanced stage HCC and in patients with poor response to prior treatments like transarterial chemoembolization.
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BACKGROUND: The incidence of oropharyngeal carcinoma has been on the rise in recent decades. About 30% of patients who undergo definitive chemoradiation as the initial treatment present with residual/recurrent disease. In such a situation, surgical salvage either in the form of traditional open surgery or transoral robotic surgery (TORS) remains a viable treatment option. However, the extensive vascular supply of the posterior tongue and tonsillar bed increases the risk of perioperative bleeding, which is a key concern. The article describes the technique of selective pre-operative embolization to reduce the risk of perioperative bleeding and enumerate its advantages in providing a bloodless field during surgery. METHODS: Prospective study of 5 patients with recurrent or residual midline BOT tumours who underwent TORS after selective lingual artery embolization at our centre. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: None of the patients had any major perioperative bleeding or post procedural complications. All the patients after TORS had their tongue vascularity preserved with adequate recovery of tongue functions. Selective embolization of the feeder vessels provides a favorable bloodless surgical field without affecting the vascular integrity of the remnant tongue. This added advantage helps restoring the normal oral phase of swallowing.
