Transcatheter oily chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Since 1983, transcatheter oily chemoembolization (TOCE) with doxorubicin hydrochloride, iodized oil, and gelatin sponge was used in 100 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Doxorubicin, 40-100 mg (mean, 61.3 mg), was mixed with 5-20 mL (mean, 9.6 mL) of an iodized oil to prepare a water-in-oil emulsion that was then infused into the hepatic artery. Both progressive changes in blood concentrations of doxorubicin and its tissue concentrations in patients who underwent hepatectomy demonstrated that the drug was released slowly from the emulsion. The cumulative survival rate was 82.0% for 6 months, 53.8% for 1 year, 33.3% for 2 years, and 17.6% for 3 years. These survival rates were better than those of 104 patients who underwent embolization with gelatin sponge, then received an anticancer drug (67.4% for 6 months, 45.2% for 1 year, 16.3% for 2 years, and 3.8% for 3 years).