title: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for lymph node metastases in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with regional lymph node metastases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight patients with HCC and regional lymph node metastases were enrolled in this study. The patients were allocated into two groups: Group A (28 patients) underwent TACE for both intrahepatic tumors and lymph node metastasis and Group B (20 patients) received TACE for intrahepatic tumors only.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients were followed-up by contrast enhanced CT scan 6-8 weeks after TACE treatment. In Group A, seven and nine patients achieved complete and partial response for lymph node metastasis, respectively, with 1-year and 2-year overall survival rates of 60.7% and 35.7%, respectively. In contrast, none of the patients in Group B achieved a complete response, whereas four patients achieved a partial response. The 1-year and 2-year survival rates for the patients in Group B were 40% and 0%, respectively. The difference in survival between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TACE is an effective treatment to regional lymph node metastasis in HCC without significant side effects and could provide survival benefits to the patients with advanced HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Huiyong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Shuguang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: PET-CT Center, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Jinsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: B-Ultrasound Room, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Guanglei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Yinfa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic / Q000401:mortality*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
keywords: TACE; hepatocellular carcinoma; lymph nodes; metastasis