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Updated: Mar 7, 2026
Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion PHP with Melphalan as a Treatment for Unresectable Metastases Confined to the Liver
Published on: July 31, 2016
Chemosaturation With Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion in Unresectable Hepatic Metastases
Evan S Glazer1, Jonathan S Zager2
1Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis,TN.
Background:
In patients with hepatic metastases from solid-organ malignancies, surgical resection may be a potentially curative option, but it is not possible in most cases. Chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion was developed for the management of unresectable metastases to the liver.
Methods:
Relevant medical literature was summarized with regard to the outcomes and limitations of chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion.
Results:
Six articles were identified that contained data on 91 individuals who received chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion. More than 60% of these study patients were diagnosed with ocular melanoma. The overall response rate was 48% and the rate of disease control was 90%. Chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion improved the rates of overall and hepatic progression-free survival (PFS). The data are limited but suggest that the rate of PFS was improved in study patients with isolated melanoma hepatic metastases who received chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion compared with those assigned to standard care.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion produces favorable tumor response rates in select individuals with unresectable hepatic metastases from multiple primary cancers, particularly ocular and cutaneous melanomas. Data from a single randomized clinical trial have also shown that chemosaturation with percutaneous hepatic perfusion can affect hepatic PFS in certain patients.
