[Usefulness of segmental Lp-TAE using lipiodol mixed with anticancer agent for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma]

To determine the effect of appraising subsegmental or segmental transarterial embolization with Lipiodol mixed with anticancer drugs followed by gelatin particles (Segmental Lp-TAE) on inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma, we examined CT patterns and therapeutic results in 57 patients after Segmental Lp-TAE. Fifty-six tumors including 47 tumors less than 5 cm in size were the nodular type and 1 tumor was the massive type. The mean tumor size was 3.6 cm and the mean amount of Lipiodol was 4.4 ml. Portal veins in the embolized segment were highly visualized by injected Lipiodol on plain film immediately after Segmental Lp-TAE. On the follow-up CT, the size of the tumor with dense Lipiodol accumulation were reduced in all cases, and atrophy of the embolized segment was recognized. Forty-four of the 57 patients are alive, with the longest surviving patient still alive at 4 years and 5 months. Seventeen patients have survived for more than 2 years (direct crude survival rate: 65.0%), with the cumulative survival rates 93.2% at 1 year, 71.6% at 2 years. No recurrence was recognized in 33 of the 41 patients (80.0%) that were followed up for more than 1 year after Segmental Lp-TAE is a useful therapeutic method for hepatocellular carcinoma.