Minimally invasive therapy for primary hepatocellular carcinoma with lung metastasis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the value of the minimally invasive therapy for primary hepatocellular carcinoma with lung metastasis. Methods There were 24 liver lesions and 41 lung metastasis lesions totally in 19 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and lung metastases in our hospital. Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) for liver tumors and 125I seeds implantation for lung metastasis lesions were performed in the patients. The efficacy and the recent mean survival duration in the patients were evaluated. The adverse reactions and complications during therapy were observed. Results In all 19 patients, for lung metastasis, 16 patients achieved complete remission, and 3 patients got progress which meant that there were new lesions in the lung. For liver lesions, 11 patients revealed complete remission, 4 patients revealed partial remission, 2 patients showed no change, and 2 patients got progress. Liver function damage of 19 cases, fever of 16 cases, postoperative pain of 17 cases and local hemorrhage of 1 case were observed during the treating process of liver lesions. Bleeding of 3 cases, pneumothorax of 2 cases and dyspnea of 1 case were observed during the treating process of lung metastasis lesions. All the adverse reactions and complications relieved after symptomatic treatment. The median survival duration was (11.5±1.1)months. Conclusion The integrated minimally invasive therapy is an effective method for primary hepatocellular carcinoma with lung metastases. Key words: Liver neoplasms; Neoplasm metastasis; Radiology; interventional; Radiotherapy; computer-assisted; Radioactive seed