A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Preoperative Transarterial Chemoembolization for Resectable Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma

In Brief Objective: To evaluate the effect of preoperative transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for resectable large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Summary Background Data: Resection of HCC is potentially curative, but local recurrence is very common. There is currently no effective neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. Methods: From July 2001 to December 2003, 108 patients (hepatitis B carrier = 98.1%) with resectable HCC (≥5 cm) was randomly assigned to preoperative TACE treatment (n = 52) or no preoperative treatment (control group) (n = 56). Results: Five patients (9.6%) in the preoperative TACE group did not receive surgical therapy because of extrahepatic metastasis or liver failure. The preoperative TACE group had a lower resection rate (n = 47, 90.4% vs. n = 56, 100%; P= 0.017), and longer operative time (mean, 176.5 minutes vs. 149.3 minutes; P= 0.042). No significant difference was found between the 2 groups in operative blood loss, surgical morbidity, and hospital mortality. At a median follow-up of 57 months, 41 (78.8%) of 52 patients in the preoperative TACE group and 51 (91.1%) of 56 patients in the control group had recurrent disease (P= 0.087). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 48.9%, 25.5%, and 12.8%, respectively, for the preoperative TACE group and 39.2%, 21.4%, and 8.9%, respectively, for the control group (P= 0.372). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 73.1%, 40.4%, and 30.7%, respectively, for the preoperative TACE group and 69.6%, 32.1%, and 21.1%, respectively, for the control group (P= 0.679). Conclusions: Preoperative TACE did not improve surgical outcome. It resulted in drop-out from definitive surgery because of progression of disease and liver failure. There is currently no effective neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Our randomized trial showed preoperative transarterial chemoembolization did not improve survival for resectable large HCC. Instead, it resulted in dropout from definitive surgery because of progression of disease and liver failure.