Aim: The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the local control effects of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) using epirubicin (EPIR) and that using miriplatin (MPT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: Between January 2010 and July 2011, 218 HCC cases were treated with TACE, including 69 cases using EPIR or MPT as initial treatment. All 69 patients were treated with iodized oil and gelatin sponge particles. The local control rate (modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors [RECIST] ver. 1.0), time to treatment failure (Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test) and adverse events were evaluated.
Results: Forty-two cases were treated using EPIR, and 27 cases were treated using MPT. All 69 patients had no previous treatment with TACE or hepatic arterial infusion. No serious adverse events were observed in either group. The response rates, including complete response (CR) and partial response (PR), of the EPIR group and the MPT group were 85.7% and 81.5%, respectively, with a time to treatment failure of 5.1 and 7.5 months, respectively. Excluding whole liver TACE cases, time to treatment failure was 5.4 months for the EPIR group and 10.1 months for the MPT group.
Conclusion: In TACE naïve cases, there was no significant difference in local control between EPIR and MPT.
© 2012 The Japan Society of Hepatology.