Balloon-Occluded Transarterial Chemoembolization for Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Mukund A, Jain K, Sharma LK, Tyagi V, Patidar Y, Shasthry SM, Choudhary AK, Sarin SK.

research-articleOpen access

AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only

Balloon-occluded TACE for unresectable HCC achieved a 72% overall response and 54% complete response, with 68% progression-free at 1 year.

What was studied

Retrospective single-center study of 50 patients with unresectable HCC treated with B-TACE (2023-2024), assessing response by LR-TR and mRECIST.

Key findings

Overall response 72.0%; complete response 54.0%
BCLC A/B response 77.3% vs BCLC C 33.3%
1-year PFS 68.0%; higher with early CR/PR (83.3% vs 28.6%)
Lipiodol deposition pattern predicted outcome

Clinical relevance

This suggests B-TACE may be a promising alternative to conventional or DEB-TACE, but comparative trials are needed.

Who should care

Radiodiagnosis/Radiology

Limitations

Small retrospective single-center study with short follow-up and no comparator arm.

Balloon-occluded TACE shows strong early responses in liver cancer.

This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.

Abstract

Background

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is considered standard therapy for intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, conventional TACE (cTACE) and drug-eluting bead TACE (DEB-TACE) are limited by high recurrence rates. Recent studies have shown that balloon-occluded TACE (B-TACE) allows enhanced intratumoral drug deposition and may improve outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term outcome of B-TACE for HCC.

Materials and methods

This retrospective single-center study was conducted after obtaining approval from the institutional review board. Fifty patients with unresectable HCC were treated with B-TACE between October 2023 and September 2024. Tumor response was assessed using LI-RADS Treatment Response (LR-TR) and mRECIST (Modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors). Progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier methods, and predictors of response were evaluated by logistic regression. Lipiodol deposition was classified into three types as a surrogate marker of drug distribution.

Results

The overall response rate was 72.0%, with a complete response in 54.0% of patients. Subgroup analysis revealed that patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage A and B achieved a higher overall response rate of 77.3% (34/44), compared with 33.3% (2/6) in patients with BCLC stage C. At 1 year, 68.0% remained progression-free, with significantly higher PFS in those achieving early complete response/partial response compared with stable disease/progressive disease (83.3 vs. 28.6%, p p < 0.001) and superior PFS. Multivariable analysis identified lipiodol deposition pattern, number of lesions, and baseline AFP as independent predictors of response. Complications were manageable (30.0%, mainly fever and transaminitis), with no treatment-related mortality.

Conclusion

B-TACE demonstrated high efficacy and acceptable safety in HCC, with lipiodol deposition serving as a key predictor of outcome. These findings support B-TACE as a promising alternative to cTACE/DEB-TACE, particularly in intermediate-stage disease.

DOI

10.1055/s-0046-1822652

PMID

42344196

PMCID

PMC13290306

Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.

Want more like this?

Browse more from the feed. A free account unlocks the full feed, saving and communities.

Back to the research feed

Create a free account · Sign in