Conventional vs. Drug-Eluting Beads Transarterial Chemoembolization for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma—A Propensity Score Weighted Comparison of Efficacy and Safety

Lynn Jeanette Savic, Evan Chen, Nariman Nezami, Nikitha Murali, Charlie Alexander Hamm, Clinton Wang, Ming De Lin, Todd Schlachter, Kelvin Hong, Christos Georgiades, Julius Chapiro, Fabian M. Laage Gaupp

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study compared the efficacy and safety of conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) with drug-eluting beads (DEB)-TACE in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This retrospective analysis included 370 patients with HCC treated with cTACE (n = 248) or DEB-TACE (n = 122) (January 2000–July 2014). Overall survival (OS) was assessed using uni- and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Additionally, baseline imaging was assessed, and clinical and laboratory toxicities were recorded. Propensity score weighting via a generalized boosted model was applied to account for group heterogeneity. There was no significant difference in OS between cTACE (20 months) and DEB-TACE patients (24.3 months, ratio 1.271, 95% confidence interval 0.876–1.69; p = 0.392). However, in patients with infiltrative disease, cTACE achieved longer OS (25.1 months) compared to DEB-TACE (9.2 months, ratio 0.366, 0.191–0.702; p = 0.003), whereas DEB-TACE proved more effective in nodular disease (39.4 months) than cTACE (18 months, ratio 0.458, 0.308–0681; p = 0.007). Adverse events occurred with similar frequency, except for abdominal pain, which was observed more frequently after DEB-TACE (101/116; 87.1%) than cTACE (119/157; 75.8%; p = 0.02). In conclusion, these findings suggest that tumor morphology and distribution should be used as parameters to inform decisions on the selection of embolic materials for TACE for a more personalized treatment planning in patients with unresectable HCC.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number5847
JournalCancers
Volume14
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Keywords

  • TACE
  • drug-eluting beads
  • hepatocellular carcinoma
  • lipiodol
  • outcome
  • prognostic prediction
  • propensity score analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

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