Interventional Radiology For Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Comparison Of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy And Transcatheter Arterial Lipiodol Chemoembolization

The prognosis of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor and a standard therapy has not been established. We compared the efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) and transcatheter arterial lipiodol chemoembolization (TACE) for treatment of advanced HCC. In the HAIC group (n=16), cisplatin (CDDP, 10 mg/body, on days 1-5) and subsequent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU, 250 mg/body, on days 1-5) were administered for four serial courses. In the TACE group (n=21), an emulsion of epirubicin (20-30 mg/body) and lipiodol was administered every 3-4 weeks (total dose 200 mg). The response rate was significantly higher in the HAIC group compared to TACE group (56.3% and 23.8%, respectively, p = 0.04). The 3-year cumulative survival rates for HAIC and TACE groups were not statistically different (37.4 and 28.6%, respectively, p = 0.228). HAIC using low-dose CDDP and 5-FU may be a useful therapeutic option for advanced HCC.