Unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transarterial chemoembolization: clinical data from a single...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the survival rates of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) performed in a single teaching hospital. This study retrospectively assessed the electronic medical records of 217 patients in whom HCC was newly diagnosed from January 2009 to February 2013 at a single medical center. Hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy was performed using one drug or combinations of oxaliplatin, fluorouracil and doxorubicin. The primary endpoint of the study was overall survival (OS). Survival rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method. A total of 217 HCC patients (173 men and 44 women; mean age, 56.3 years; age range, 36.1-84.3 years) were treated with TACE in a single center. The overall survival rates at 1 and 2 years were 64% and 40%, respectively. The overall median survival time from the start of TACE treatment was 13 months. Our results indicated that TACE is an effective minimally invasive therapy option for palliative treatment of HCC patients.