Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) was performed in 97 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Ethiodol (iodized oil) containing an anticancer drug was infused via the hepatic artery followed by Gelfoam particles. The Ethiodol emulsion was selectively retained in the tumor vessels and also remained in the small daughter nodules that could not be detected by angiography or computed tomography (CT) prior to TAE. Ethiodol remained in the tumor for more than 1 year. Following TAE, main tumors and small daughter nodules appeared as areas of markedly high density on CT. In most patients there was a reduction in the tumor size following TAE, and serum alpha-fetoprotein levels were reduced in all patients whose initial levels had exceeded 400 ng/ml. This method is considered to be effective not only for treatment of hepatic tumor but also useful for evaluation of post-TAE changes in the tumor and diagnosis of small daughter nodules, due to the long-term accumulation of Ethiodol in tumor vessels.

Transcatheter hepatic segmental arterial chemoembolization using Lipiodol mixed with an anticancer drug followed by the injection of Gelfoam particles, introduced into the tumor-bearing hepatic segment as the target area (segmental Lipiodol-TAE), was carried out in 54 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 7 of whom were later resected. In 5 of the resected 7 cases, complete necrosis was histologically verified. No death due to HCC was encountered in 47 nonoperated cases, and better therapeutic results were obtained with segmental Lipiodol-TAE. It was concluded that this technique does not adversely affect normal tissues, and it does reinforce the effect of TAE.

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We developed segmental Lp-TAE, which is transcatheter hepatic sub-subsegmental, subsegmental, or segmental chemoembolization using Lipiodol introduced into the tumor-bearing hepatic sub-subsegment, subsegment, or segment as the target area. A total of 98 patients with nonresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing segmental Lp-TAE (Seg-Lp-TAE) were studied, and the relationship between the CT pattern observed after Seg-Lp-TAE (Seg-Lp-CT) and the therapeutic results obtained in those patients was evaluated. Seg-Lp-CT was classified into four types (type I, homogeneous; type II, defective; type III, inhomogeneous; and type IV, only slight accumulation, if any) according to the Lipiodol accumulation pattern observed after Seg-Lp-TAE. The cumulative nonrecurrence rates of type I were higher than those of types II-IV. The cumulative survival rates of type Ia, in which Lp accumulation is also seen around the main tumor, were the highest (93.8% at 1 year, 85.9% at 2 years, 85.9% at 3 years, and 57.3% at 4 years). The cumulative survival rates achieved with Seg-Lp-TAE were 89.2% at 1 year, 69.4% at 2 years, 58.9% at 3 years, 44.0% at 4 years, and 30.2% at 5 years, which were higher than those achieved with conventional Lp-TAE. Seg-Lp-TAE is very useful in the treatment of HCC limited to one sub-subsegment, subsegment, or segment, and it is important to choose sub-subsegmental, subsegmental, or segmental Lp-TAE on the basis of the size and site of the tumor as well as the type and the number of feeding arteries.

PSIT has promise as a form of curative local therapy for small HCCs and is expected to exert a safe and favorable therapeutic effect on large HCCs as well.