Predictive factors of transarterial chemoembolisation toxicity in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is an effective treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but can cause severe toxicity.

To identify predictive factors of severe TACE-related toxicity in patients with unresectable HCC.

All HCC patients who underwent TACE at the Dijon University Hospital between 2008 and 2011 were included in this retrospective study. Severe TACE-related toxicity was defined as the occurrence of any adverse event grade ≥ 4, or any adverse event that caused a prolongation of hospitalisation of >8 days, or any additional hospitalisation within 1 month after TACE. Factors predicting toxicity were identified using a logistic regression model. The robustness of the final model was confirmed using bootstrapping (500 replications).

124 patients were included, median age was 67 years and 90% were male; 22 patients (18%) experienced severe TACE-related toxicity. Factors that independently predicted severe TACE-related toxicity in multivariate analysis were total tumour size (OR, 1.15 cm(-1); 95%CI, 1.04-1.26; p=0.01), and high serum AST levels (OR, 1.10 per 10 IU/l; 95%CI, 1.01-1.21; p=0.04). The results were confirmed by bootstrapping.

Total tumour size and high serum AST levels were predictive factors of severe TACE-related toxicity in this hospital-based series of patients with unresectable HCC.