Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for lymph node metastases in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with regional lymph node metastases.

Forty-eight patients with HCC and regional lymph node metastases were enrolled in this study. The patients were allocated into two groups: Group A (28 patients) underwent TACE for both intrahepatic tumors and lymph node metastasis and Group B (20 patients) received TACE for intrahepatic tumors only.

The patients were followed-up by contrast enhanced CT scan 6-8 weeks after TACE treatment. In Group A, seven and nine patients achieved complete and partial response for lymph node metastasis, respectively, with 1-year and 2-year overall survival rates of 60.7% and 35.7%, respectively. In contrast, none of the patients in Group B achieved a complete response, whereas four patients achieved a partial response. The 1-year and 2-year survival rates for the patients in Group B were 40% and 0%, respectively. The difference in survival between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.001).

TACE is an effective treatment to regional lymph node metastasis in HCC without significant side effects and could provide survival benefits to the patients with advanced HCC.