• L-T Xu, Z-H Zhou, J-H Lin, Z Chen, K Wang, P Wang, X-Y Zhu, Y-H Shen, Z-Q Meng, and L-M Liu.
• Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, China.
• Eur J Surg Oncol. 2011 Mar 1; 37 (3): 245-51.

BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Monotherapy is not very effective for intermediate or advanced stage HCC. Efficacy of combined therapy using transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3-DCRT) for advanced HCC should be evaluated.MethodsHCC patients were selected from our patient database. The sequence of treatments that patients underwent was several courses of TACE followed in 2-4 weeks by 3-DCRT. The median tumor irradiation dose was 44Gy. Toxicity, tumor response, and overall survival rate were analyzed.Results140 HCC patients were followed up by the last follow-up time. Among these patients, hepatic toxicities due to treatment were notable in 15 cases. Gastrointestinal bleeding after the overall treatment occurred in 3 cases. Leukopenia of grade III was detected in 1 case. Radiation-induced liver disease (RILD) was observed in 3 patients. Among 140 patients, 27, 97, and 16 cases achieved partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease, respectively. The overall survival rates of 1-year, 3-years, and 5-years were 66%, 29%, and 13%, respectively, with a median survival time of 18 months. Both Child-Pugh grade and radiation dose were determined to be independent predictors for overall survival from multivariate analysis.ConclusionThe combined modality of TACE and 3-DCRT is a promising treatment for unresectable HCC. A large-scale, prospective randomized trial should be performed to confirm the utility of this combined therapy.Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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