title: Hepatic arterial embolization in patients with neuroendocrine tumors.
abstract: Liver metastases occur in 46-93% of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). Presence and extension of liver metastases are considered important prognostic factors, as they may significantly impair the patient's quality of life, because of either tumor bulk or hormonal hypersecretion. Therapies for NEN liver metastases include surgical resection, liver transplantation, chemotherapy and biotherapy. Surgery is the gold standard for curative therapy, but in most of NEN patients with liver metastases, when surgery can not be applied, minimally invasive therapeutic approaches are adopted. They include trans-arterial embolization (TAE), trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiofrequency thermal ablation and new emerging techniques.TAE is based on selective infusion of particles in the branch of the hepatic artery supplying the tumor lesions. The goal of TAE is to occlude tumor blood vessels resulting in ischemia and necrosis. Many reports have shown that TAE can reduce tumor size and hormone output, resulting in palliation of symptoms without the use of cytotoxic drugs, resulting in better tolerability. This review will focus on TAE performance and safety in NEN patients with liver metastases.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Prete
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Modica
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marotta
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marciello
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ramundo
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Sarno
authors.forename: Annachiara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carratù
authors.forename: Chiara de Luca
authors.initials: Cde L
authors.lastname: di Roseto
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tafuto
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tatangelo
authors.forename: Robero
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baldelli
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colao
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Endocrinologia, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. afaggian@unina.it.
authors.forename: Antongiulio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faggiano
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D018358:Neuroendocrine Tumors / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents