Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality and has an increasing incidence worldwide. Locoregional therapies, defined as imaging-guided liver ...tumour-directed procedures, play a leading part in the management of 50-60% of HCCs. Radiofrequency is the mainstay for local ablation at early stages and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) remains the standard treatment for intermediate-stage HCC. Other local ablative techniques (microwave ablation, cryoablation and irreversible electroporation) or locoregional therapies (for example, radioembolization and sterotactic body radiation therapy) have been explored, but have not yet modified the standard therapies established decades ago. This understanding is currently changing, and several drugs have been approved for the management of advanced HCC. Molecular therapies dominate the adjuvant trials after curative therapies and combination strategies with TACE for intermediate stages. The rationale for these combinations is sound. Local therapies induce antigen and proinflammatory cytokine release, whereas VEGF inhibitors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors boost immunity and prime tumours for checkpoint inhibition. In this Review, we analyse data from randomized and uncontrolled studies reported with ablative and locoregional techniques and examine the expected effects of combinations with systemic treatments. We also discuss trial design and benchmarks to be used as a reference for future investigations in the dawn of a promising new era for HCC treatment.
The development of image-guided percutaneous techniques for local tumour ablation has been one of the major advances in the treatment of liver malignancies. Among these methods, radiofrequency ...ablation (RFA) is currently established as the primary ablative modality at most institutions. RFA is accepted as the best therapeutic choice for patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) when liver transplantation or surgical resection are not suitable options
1
,
2
. In addition, RFA is considered a viable alternate to surgery (1) for inoperable patients with limited hepatic metastatic disease, especially from colorectal cancer, and (2) for patients deemed ineligible for surgical resection because of extent and location of the disease or concurrent medical conditions
3
. These guidelines were written to be used in quality-improvement programs to assess RFA of HCC and liver metastases. The most important processes of care are (1) patient selection, (2) performing the procedure, and (3) monitoring the patient. The outcome measures or indicators for these processes are indications, success rates, and complication rates.
This CIRSE Standards of Practice document reviews current literature and provides best practices for image guided thermal ablation of liver tumours, including radiofrequency, microwave and ...cryoablation techniques.
Transarterial chemoembolization with Lipiodol (Lipiodol TACE), also called conventional TACE, was developed in the early 1980s and widely adopted worldwide after randomized control trials and ...meta-analysis demonstrated superiority of Lipiodol TACE to best supportive care. Presently, there is no level one evidence that other TACE techniques are superior to Lipiodol TACE for intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which includes patients with preserved liver function and nonsurgical large or multinodular HCC without distant metastases. In addition, TACE is part of the treatment for progressive or symptomatic liver metastases from gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. When injected into the hepatic artery, Lipiodol has the unique property of selective uptake and retention in hyperarterialyzed liver tumors. Lipiodol/drug emulsion followed by particle embolization has been demonstrated to improve the pharmacokinetic of the drug and tumor response. Radio opacity of Lipiodol helps to monitor treatment delivery, with retention of Lipiodol serving as an imaging biomarker for tumor response. For 30 years, Lipiodol TACE has been inconsistently referenced in many publications with various levels of details for the method of preparation and administration, with reported progressive outcomes following improvements in the technique and the devices used to deliver the treatment and better patient selection. Consequently, there is no consensus on the standard method of TACE regarding the use of anticancer agents, embolic material, technical details, and the treatment schedule. In order to develop an internationally validated technical recommendation to standardize the Lipiodol TACE procedure, a worldwide panel of experts participated in a consensus meeting held on May 10, 2014 .
Objectives
To evaluate the feasibility and 6 months clinical result of sectioning of the transverse carpal ligament (TCL) and median nerve decompression after ultra-minimally invasive, ...ultrasound-guided percutaneous carpal tunnel release (PCTR) surgery.
Methods
Consecutive patients with carpal tunnel syndrome were enrolled in this descriptive, open-label study. The procedure was performed in the interventional radiology room. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed at baseline and 1 month. The Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire was administered at baseline, 1, and 6 months.
Results
129 patients were enrolled. Significant decreases in mean symptom severity scores (3.3 ± 0.7 at baseline, 1.7 ± 0.4 at Month 1, 1.3 ± 0.3 at Month 6) and mean functional status scores (2.6 ± 1.1 at baseline, 1.6 ± 0.4 at Month 1, 1.3 ± 0.5 at Month 6) were noted. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a complete section of all TCL and nerve decompression in 100% of patients. No complications were identified.
Conclusions
Ultrasound-guided PCTR was used successfully to section the TCL, decompress the median nerve, and reduce self-reported symptoms.
Basic Knowledge in Soft Tissue Sarcoma Bourcier, Kévin; Le Cesne, Axel; Tselikas, Lambros ...
Cardiovascular and interventional radiology,
09/2019, Letnik:
42, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Sarcoma is rare and heterogenous with various subtypes having a different prognostic. Desmoid is a tumour with a local aggressiveness; GIST with KIT mutation responds massively to target treatment as ...IMATINIB, whereas soft tissue sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma are very aggressive with poor response to systemic therapies. Interventional radiology plays an important role in the diagnosis of sarcomas with image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy being the most commonly used biopsy technique in the diagnosis of sarcomas. Biopsy access routes discussed with the surgeon, and skin access is tattooed. Surgery is a mainstay of sarcoma treatment; the resection can be large. Indeed, resection objective is R0 because quality of surgical margins impacts local control and survival. Radiotherapy is possible in neoadjuvant or in adjuvant treatment to improve local control rate. Recently radiotherapy enhancer injected percutaneously in soft tissue sarcoma has proven benefit in increasing the rate of R0 complete surgical resection. Several studies showed better local control rate linked with post-operative radiotherapy. In patients affected by oligometastatic disease, complete surgical resection of all metastatic sites is in fact considered the primary treatment because complete remission is critical for cure. The decision making to use local therapies is complex, depends upon diverse presentations and histologies, and should always be taken in a multidisciplinary discussion. Today, percutaneous image-guided treatments with ablation technologies (radiofrequency ablation, cryotherapy, microwaves ablation) provide high rate of durable local control for small-sized malignant deposit in many organs including lung, liver and bones. Sarcoma must be managed by multimodality treatment in expert reference centres. Such management has a considerable impact on the prognosis.
Early focus of interventional oncologists was developing tools and imaging guidance, performing “procedures” acting as a skillful technician without knowledge of clinical patient outcomes, beyond ...post-treatment image findings. Interventional oncologists must deliver “treatments” and not “procedures”, and focus on clinically relevant outcomes, provide clinical continuity of care, which means stand at multidisciplinary tumor boards, see patients in consultation before treatment and for follow-up. Interventional oncologists have fought for the same “market” with surgery in a head to head, bloody competition called red ocean strategy in marketing terms, resulting in many aborted trials. Wide adoption of interventional oncology is facing the challenge to build evidence with overall survival as endpoint in randomized trials while the benefits of a treatment on overall survival are diluted by the effects of possible/inevitable subsequent therapies. Because interventional oncology is a disruptive force in medicine achieving same results as others (surgery) using different, less invasive approaches, patients where surgery is irrelevant can be target with a blue ocean strategy (to propose treatment where there is no competition). Recently interventional oncology has been included in the ESMO guidelines for colorectal cancer with oligometastatic disease with both surgical resection, and thermal ablation classified in the same category called “local ablative treatments”. Interventional oncologists have to shape the future by publications in oncologic journal, by being active members of oncology scientific societies, and use modern public megaphone (blog, video sharing, …) to disseminate information and let society know that interventional is not a me-too product but a disruptive treatment.
Purpose
To assess whether fusion imaging-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) can improve visibility and targeting of liver metastasis that were deemed inconspicuous on ultrasound (US).
...Materials and Methods
MWA of liver metastasis not judged conspicuous enough on US was performed under CT/US fusion imaging guidance. The conspicuity before and after the fusion imaging was graded on a five-point scale, and significance was assessed by Wilcoxon test. Technical success, procedure time, and procedure-related complications were evaluated.
Results
A total of 35 patients with 40 liver metastases (mean size 1.3 ± 0.4 cm) were enrolled. Image fusion improved conspicuity sufficiently to allow fusion-targeted MWA in 33 patients. The time required for image fusion processing and tumors’ identification averaged 10 ± 2.1 min (range 5–14). Initial conspicuity on US by inclusion criteria was 1.2 ± 0.4 (range 0–2), while conspicuity after localization on fusion imaging was 3.5 ± 1 (range 1–5,
p
< 0.001). Technical success rate was 83% (33/40) in intention-to-treat analysis and 100% in analysis of treated tumors. There were no major procedure-related complications.
Conclusions
Fusion imaging broadens the scope of US-guided MWA to metastasis lacking adequate conspicuity on conventional US. Fusion imaging is an effective tool to increase the conspicuity of liver metastases that were initially deemed non visualizable on conventional US imaging.
Objective
Percutaneous osteosynthesis plus cementoplasty (POPC) is a minimally invasive technique that has never been reported before and that we have prospectively evaluated for patients with ...impending pathological fracture of the proximal femur.
Methods
We performed POPC in 12 patients (3 males, 9 females) with metastasis of the proximal femur with a high risk of fracture (Mirels’ score ≥8) between February 2010 and July 2011. Patients were not candidates for standard surgical stabilization. We analyzed the feasibility, duration, and complication of the procedure, the risk of fracture, the decrease in pain (Visual Analog Scale, VAS), and length of stay in hospital. Data were prospectively collected in all patients.
Results
The mean Mirels’ score was 9.8 ± 1.2 (range, 8–11). The technical success was 100%. POPC was performed under general anesthesia (
n
= 6) or conscious sedation (
n
= 6). The mean duration was 110 ± 43 (range, 60–180) minutes. All patients stood up and walked the second day after the procedure. The average length of stay in the hospital was 4 ± 1.6 (range, 2–7) days. We experienced two hematomas in two patients and no thromboembolic complication. For symptomatic patients (
n
= 8), VAS decreased from 6.5/10 (range, 2–9) before treatment to 1/10 (range, 0–3) 1 month after. No fracture occurred after a median follow-up of 145 (range, 12–608) days.
Conclusions
POPC for impending pathological fracture of the proximal femur seems to be a promising alternative for cancer patients who are not candidates for surgical stabilization. Further studies are required to confirm this preliminary experience.
In patients with liver malignancies potentially amenable to curative extended right hepatectomy but insufficient size of the future liver remnant (FLR), portal vein embolization (PVE) of the ...tumor‐bearing liver is used to induce contralateral liver hypertrophy but leaves the tumor untreated. Radioembolization (RE) treats the tumor in the embolized lobe along with contralateral hypertrophy induction. We performed a matched‐pair analysis to compare the capacity for hypertrophy induction of these two modalities. Patients with right‐hepatic secondary liver malignancies with no or negligible left‐hepatic tumor involvement who were treated by right‐lobar PVE (n = 141) or RE (n = 35) at two centers were matched for criteria known to influence liver regeneration following PVE: 1) baseline FLR/Total liver volume ratio (<25 versus ≥25%); 2) prior platinum‐containing systemic chemotherapy; 3) embolization of segments 5‐8 versus 4‐8; and 4) baseline platelet count (<200 versus ≥200 Gpt/L).The primary endpoint was relative change in FLR volume from baseline to follow‐up. Twenty‐six matched pairs were identified. FLR volume increase from baseline to follow‐up (median 33 24‐56 days after PVE or 46 27‐79 days after RE) was significant in both groups but PVE produced significantly more FLR hypertrophy than RE (61.5 versus 29%, P < 0.001). Time between treatment and follow‐up was not correlated with the degree of contralateral hypertrophy achieved in both groups. Although group differences in patient history and treatment setting were present and some bias cannot be excluded, this was minimized by the matched‐pair design, as remaining group differences after matching were found to have no significant influence on contralateral hypertrophy development. Conclusion: PVE induces significantly more contralateral hypertrophy than RE with therapeutic (nonlobectomy) doses. However, contralateral hypertrophy induced by RE is substantial and RE minimizes the risk of tumor progression in the treated lobe, possibly making it a suitable modality for selected patients. (Hepatology 2014;59:1864–1873)
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