ArticleWorld journal of gastroenterology2021
High rate of complete histopathological response in hepatocellular carcinoma patients after combined transarterial chemoembolization and stereotactic body radiation therapy.
Article in World journal of gastroenterology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy With or Without Transarterial Chemoembolization Versus Transarterial Chemoembolization Alone in Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2023Pooled it
- Advances in transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: Integration with systemic therapies and emerging treatment strategies.Cancer pathogenesis and therapy · 2026Review
- Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: analysis of post-treatment radiology and explant histology.BJC reports · 2025Article
- No disease left behind.Oncotarget · 2025Article
- Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in patients with hepatocellular cancer-a narrative review and expert opinion.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2024Review
- Bridge Therapy before Liver Transplant for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Review
- Article
- Concomitant Irradiation to Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients: A Systematic Retrospective, Single-Center Analysis.Oncology research and treatment · 2023Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLiver transplantation (LT) presents a curative treatment option in patients with early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are not eligible for resection or ablation therapy. Due to a risk of up 30% for waitlist drop-out upon tumor progression, bridging therapies are used to halt tumor growth. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and less commonly stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or a combination of TACE and SBRT, are used as bridging therapies in LT. However, it remains unclear if one of those treatment options is superior. The analysis of explant livers after transplantation provides the unique opportunity to investigate treatment response by histopathology.
aimTo analyze histopathological response to a combination of TACE and SBRT in HCC in comparison to TACE or SBRT alone.
methodsIn this multicenter retrospective study, 27 patients who received liver transplantation for HCC were analyzed. Patients received either TACE or SBRT alone, or a combination of TACE and SBRT as bridging therapy to liver transplantation. Liver explants of all patients who received at least one TACE and/or SBRT were analyzed for the presence of residual vital tumor tissue by histopathology to assess differences in treatment response to bridging therapies. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney-
resultsFourteen patients received TACE only, four patients SBRT only, and nine patients a combination therapy of TACE and SBRT. There were no significant differences between groups regarding age, sex, etiology of underlying liver disease or number and size of tumor lesions. Strikingly, analysis of liver explants revealed that almost all patients in the TACE and SBRT combination group (8/9, 89%) showed no residual vital tumor tissue by histopathology, whereas TACE or SBRT alone resulted in significantly lower rates of complete histopathological response (0/14, 0% and 1/4, 25%, respectively,
conclusionOur data suggests that a combination of TACE and SBRT increases the rate of complete histopathological response compared to TACE or SBRT alone in bridging to liver transplantation.
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