Effective cases of transcatheter arterioportal chemoembolization with high-dose iodized oil for hepatocellular carcinoma.

By administering an excessive amount of iodized oil via the hepatic artery, anticancer drugs in the iodized oil flow into the portal vein through the arterioportal communication. This phenomenon permits chemotherapy against extracapsular infiltration by a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) nourished by the portal blood flow. From May 1983 through July 1992, 240 cases of HCC underwent transcatheter arterioportal chemoembolization (TAPCE) with more than 5 ml of iodized oil (mean, 15 ml) in our hospital. In all, 32 patients survived for more than 3 years, and the factors favoring the efficacy of TAPCE therapy were investigated. Doxorubicin (mean, 46 mg) was given to 31 patients and 20 mg mitomycin C was given to 1 patient. The patients included one Stage 1 case, 13 Stage 2 cases, 17 Stage 3 cases, and one Stage 4 case. The mean tumor size was 5.0 cm, and portal invasion was suggested in 8 cases by angiography. The tumors were divided into 5 types: 13 cases of the single nodular type (SN), 7 cases of the single nodular type with proliferation (SN-P), 3 cases of the multinodular fused type (MN-F), 5 cases of the multinodular type (MN), and 4 cases of the massive type. A complication of liver dysfunction was detected in 14 cases, and half of them were Child's class C. In all, 7 patients underwent hepatectomy and 6 received percutaneous ethanol injection after TAPCE. The treated area of TAPCE was classified as segmental, lobar, or total. Segmental and lobar administration of TAPCE yielded statistically effective results, and their tumor response rate was 86%. All of the MN-F and massive types showed a good tumor response. The incidence of intrahepatic distant metastasis was higher in the localized TAPCE group than in the total TAPCE group. Segmental and lobar TAPCE should be applied for localized infiltrating HCCs, even in cases associated with liver cirrhosis, but these methods have a limited capacity to prevent distant intrahepatic metastasis.