Doxorubicin -eluting beads in the treatment of liver carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Doxorubicin and especially doxorubicin-eluting beads (DEBs) have become an intensive study subject in the locoregional therapy of liver carcinoma over the past 6 years. Since sorafenib has become the new standard in the treatment of advanced liver carcinoma and has been combined with DEB in clinical studies to evaluate safety and efficacy, it has shown promising results. Thus, the authors have investigated the evidence that DEB is a potential drug in the treatment of intermediate liver carcinoma, even in combination with systemic therapies. AREAS COVERED: Evaluation of published articles in English using metadatabase such as PubMed. EXPERT OPINION: Since there is no standard therapy regimen in the locoregional transarterial treatment of intermediate liver carcinoma, DEBs were designed to offer an attempt to homogenize the use of cytostatic and embolic agents. The development of so-called doxorubicin-eluting beads in the past few years is an effort to minimize systemic toxicity and increase local drug concentration. In the therapy of liver carcinoma, doxorubicin should not be systemically administered due to its high toxicity. Clinical trials indicate that the administration of DEB is safe and effective for the treatment of liver carcinoma and can even be combined with systemic drugs such as sorafenib.