Computed tomographic perfusion imaging for the prediction of response and survival to transarterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma
Article Category: Research Article
Published Online: Dec 07, 2017
Page range: 14 - 22
Received: Sep 11, 2017
Accepted: Oct 15, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/raon-2017-0052
© 2018 Peter Popovic, Ana Leban, Klara Kregar, Manca Garbajs, Rok Dezman, Matjaz Bunc
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Background
The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the clinical value of computed tomographic perfusion imaging (CTPI) parameters in predicting the response to treatment and overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEBTACE).
Patients and methods
Between December 2010 and January 2013 eighteen patients (17 men, 1 woman; mean age 69 ± 5.8 years) with intermediate stage HCC underwent CTPI of the liver prior to treatment with DEBTACE. Treatment response was evaluated on follow-up imaging according to modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Pre-treatment CTPI parameters were compared between patients with complete response and partial response with a Student t-test. We compared survival times with Kaplan-Meier method.
Results
CTPI parameters of patients with complete response and others did not show statistical significant difference. The mean survival time was 25.4 ± 3.2 months (95%; CI: 18.7-32.1). Survival was statistically significantly longer in patients with hepatic blood flow (BF) lower than 50.44 ml/100 ml/min (
Conclusions
CTPI enables prediction of survival in patients with intermediate stage HCC, treated with DEBTACE based on the pre-treatment values of BF, BV and TTP perfusion parameters. CT perfusion imaging can’t be used to predict treatment response to DEBTACE.