title: Result and cost of hepatic chemoembolisation with drug eluting beads in 21 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study was to assess the results and cost of a treatment strategy involving transarterial chemoembolisation with drug eluting beads (DEB-TACE) in patients with unresectable non-metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included all patients treated with DEB-TACE in our hospital between January 2009 and December 2010. All patients received DEB-TACE on demand and were evaluated after each session.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one patients received an average of 1.3 sessions. The median time to treatment discontinuation and median progression-free survival was 181 days and 295 days, respectively. Toxicity caused treatment discontinuation in three patients (14%). For the hospital, the average direct cost of treatment was €6,033 according to the analytical accounting system vs. €4,558 according to the official tariffs from the new French Diagnosis-Related Group prospective payment system (P=0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the treatment of HCC, on-demand DEB-TACE stabilises the disease in some patients but has not yet been thoroughly evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Pôle Pharmacie, CHU de Dijon, Bocage Central, 14, rue Gaffarel, 21000 Dijon, France. lucievadot.ph@gmail.com
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vadot
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boulin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malbranche
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guiu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aho
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Musat
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pernot
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Guignard
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hillon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fagnoni
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome