Chemoembolization and ablation combination show safety and effectiveness for HCC adjacent to gallbladder

Key clinical point: A treatment strategy of drug-eluting beads-transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) plus microwave ablation (MWA) showed similar rates of survival and adverse events in patients with HCC adjacent to the gallbladder

Major finding: At one month after treatment, complete response rate, objective response rate and disease control rate were 79.2%, 95.8% and 100.0% in the DEB-TACE plus MWA group. Rates of recurrence-free survival, progression-free survival, and overall survival were similar between the DEB-TACE plus MWA group and the standard surgery group.

Study details: The data come from 54 adults with HCC adjacent to the gallbladder. Of these, 24 patients underwent either drug-eluting beads-transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) plus microwave ablation (MWA) and 30 underwent standard surgery.

,

Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.

Source: Cai L et al. Am J Transl Res. 2021 Jul 15. PMCID:  PMC8340149