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Combined therapy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

¹ Department of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine, ² Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Cancer Hospital, Shanghai 200032, China

Correspondence: Guo-Liang Jiang, Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Cancer Hospital, 270 Dong An Road, Shanghai 200032, China E-mail: jianggl{at}21cn.com

To evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of combined therapy of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) and transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 50 HCC patients treated by combined TACE and 3DCRT were selected from a patient database. Sequence of treatments was that TACE was performed first, followed by 3DCRT with an interval of about 4 weeks between. TACE was administered by 5-Fu 500–600 mg m^-2, cis-platinum 30–40 mg m^-2, epi-adriamycin 40–60 mg m^-2 mixed with iodized oil and Gelfoam embolisation. A median of two courses of TACE was given. 3DCRT was delivered by 4–6 coplanar or non-coplanar fields. The mean tumour dose was 43.0±6.3 Gy by conventional fractionation (2 Gy per fraction, five fractions a week), and mean dose to normal liver, 19.1±6.3 Gy. Acute hepatic toxicities were notable in five patients (10%) with Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) grade 1 in two cases and grade 3 in three patients, but all recovered eventually. Two patients developed radiation-induced liver disease (RILD) and died soon after the onset of RILD. Four patients had Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) grade 1 acute gastrointestinal complication and one patient had acute gastrointestinal bleeding. Five patients experienced RTOG Grade 1 leukopenia and Grade 2 in five cases. Nine patients achieved have partial response, and 37 patients were in stable disease. Four patients were observed to have progressive disease. The overall survival rates at 1 year, 2 years and 3 years were 60%, 38% and 28%, respectively, with a median survival period of 17 months. Irradiation dose, T-stage and hepatic cirrhosis were identified as independent predictors for overall survival by Cox proportional regression analysis. The 1 year, 2 years and 3 years local progression-free rates were 74%, 57% and 38%, and the 1 year, 2 years and 3 years distant metastasis rates were 15%, 21% and 40%, respectively. The combined modality of TACE and 3DCRT was tolerable for the majority of HCC patients, resulted in good outcome and warrants for further prospective trial.