Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jan 27, 2018; 10(1): 95-104
Published online Jan 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i1.95
Efficacy of intra-arterial contrast-enhanced ultrasonography during transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads for hepatocellular carcinoma
Kazue Shiozawa, Manabu Watanabe, Takashi Ikehara, Shuhei Yamamoto, Takashi Matsui, Yoshinori Saigusa, Yoshinori Igarashi, Iruru Maetani
Kazue Shiozawa, Manabu Watanabe, Shuhei Yamamoto, Takashi Matsui, Yoshinori Saigusa, Iruru Maetani, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University Medical Center, Ohashi Hospital, Tokyo 153-8515, Japan
Kazue Shiozawa, Takashi Ikehara, Yoshinori Igarashi, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University Medical Center, Omori Hospital, Tokyo 143-8541, Japan
Author contributions: Shiozawa K, Watanabe M and Igarashi Y designed the study; Yamamoto S, Matsui T, Saigusa Y, Shiozawa K, Ikehara T and Watanabe M performed transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads for hepatocellular carcinoma; Watanabe M performed intra-arterial contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with Sonazoid®; Shiozawa K and Watanabe M analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Maetani I supervised the study; all authors have read and approved the final version to be published.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of Toho University Medical Center, Omori Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Manabu Watanabe, MD, PhD, Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University Medical Center, Ohashi Hospital, 2-17-6, Ohashi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8515, Japan. manabu62@med.toho-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-3-34681251 Fax: +81-3-34681269
Received: October 14, 2017
Peer-review started: October 24, 2017
First decision: December 1, 2017
Revised: December 7, 2017
Accepted: December 28, 2017
Article in press: December 28, 2017
Published online: January 27, 2018
Abstract
AIM

To assess the usefulness of intra-arterial contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (IAUS) during transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with drug-eluting beads (DEB) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

Thirty two patients with 39 HCC underwent DEB-TACE guided with IAUS, and examined by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) or dynamic CT after DEB-TACE were enrolled in this study. CEUS findings before DEB-TACE and IAUS findings were compared. Treatments judged to be complete and incomplete for lesions were appropriate and insufficient, respectively. Findings on CEUS and/or dynamic CT performed 1, 3 and 6 mo after DEB-TACE were evaluated using mRECIST (CR/PR/SD/PD).

RESULTS

The treatments were complete and incomplete in 26 and 13 lesions, respectively. On imaging evaluation using CEUS and/or dynamic CT one month after treatment, 25 and 1 lesions were judged to be CR and PR, respectively, and at 6 mo after treatment, the results were CR, PR, SD and PD for 24, 1, 0 and 1 of these lesions, respectively, in the 26 completely treated lesions. Of the 13 lesions in which treatment was incomplete, the results on imaging at one month after treatment were CR, PR, SD and PD for 0, 6, 4 and 3 lesions, respectively. The overall CR rate at 6 mo after treatment was 61.5% (24/39).

CONCLUSION

A combination of DEB-TACE with IAUS can improve the therapeutic effects in patients with HCC.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, Drug-eluting beads, Transarterial chemoembolization, Intra-arterial contrast-enhanced ultrasonography

Core tip: To assess the usefulness of intra-arterial contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (IAUS) during transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with drug-eluting beads (DEB) for 39 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Complete and incomplete treatments were 26 and 13, respectively. One month after treatment, 25 and 1 lesions were judged to be CR and PR, respectively, and at 6 mo after treatment, the results were CR, PR, SD and PD for 24, 1, 0 and 1 of these lesions, respectively, in the 26 completely treated lesions. The overall CR rate at 6 mo after treatment was 61.5% (24/39). A combination of DEB-TACE with IAUS can improve the therapeutic effects in HCC patients.