Efficacy of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with systemic chemotherapy for treatment of unresectable hepatoblastoma in children

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate, retrospectively, the clinical efficacy of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with systemic chemotherapy for unresectable hepatoblastoma. Materials and methods: Five boys and three girls (mean age 15.2 months) were treated with preoperative TACE combined with systemic chemotherapy for unresectable hepatoblastomas. Mean tumor diameter and mean alfa-fetoprotein (AFP) level were 11.8 cm and 549,386 ng/mL, respectively. Pretreatment, the extent of disease (PRETEXT) was: II, 1; III, 6; IV, 1. For all patients, preoperative systemic chemotherapy was administered before TACE. At each TACE, carboplatin and adriamycin mixed with iodized oil were infused into the feeding arteries. Tumor response and prognosis after treatment were evaluated. Results: TACE resulted in few Grade 1 adverse effects (AEs), without G3 or more AEs, according to CTACAE 3.0. Mean tumor shrinkage was 60.9 %, and the mean AFP decrease from initial levels was 94.8 %. In all cases TACE combined with systemic chemotherapy enabled subsequent safe and complete surgical resection. After a mean follow-up of 59 months, tumor-free survival was 75 %. Conclusion: Preoperative TACE combined with systemic chemotherapy was effective in inducing surgical resectability of unresectable hepatoblastoma.