Abstract:
Objectives To evaluate the clinical efficacy of radioactive 125I seed implantation combined with transcranial arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of advanced liver cancer.
Methods A total of 123 patients with advanced liver cancer by histopathology in the First People's Hospital of Lanzhou City, from January 2014 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients included 73 male patients and 50 female patients, aged 39−75(60.4±4.4) years old. Herein, patients who received radioactive 125I seed implantation combined with TACE were treated as the treatment group (69 cases), meanwhile, patients who received TACE alone were treated as the control group (54 cases). The visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the pain of all patients, and the efficacy was evaluated based on the modified Response Evaluation Criteria for Solid Tumors (mRECIST) version 1.1. χ2 test was used to compare the two groups.
Results After 1 month of treatment, 94.2%(65/69) of patients in the treatment group had pain frequency of ≤2 times/d, and 5.8%(4/69) of patients with pain frequency of ≥3 times/d. Meanwhile, 70.4%(38/54) of patients in the control group had pain frequency of ≤2 times/d, and 29.6%(16/54) of patients with pain frequency of ≥3 times/d. Hence, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ2=123.00, P<0.001). After 1 month of treatment, 71.0%(49/69) of patients in the treatment group had no pain or mild pain, 24.6%(17/69) had moderate pain, and 4.4%(3/69) had severe pain. Meanwhile, in the control group, 46.3%(25/54) of patients had no pain or mild pain, 40.7%(22/54) experienced moderate pain, and 13.0%(7/54) had severe pain. Thus, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ2=8.480, P<0.05). After 3 months of treatment, the effective rate and disease control rate of the treatment group were 84.1%(58/69) and 92.8%(64/69), respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the control group (22.2%(12/54) and 51.9%(28/54)), and the differences were statistically significant (χ2=47.234, 36.883; P<0.001). After 6 months of treatment, the effective rate and disease control rate of the treatment group were 62.3%(43/69) and 79.7%(55/69), respectively, which were significantly higher than 16.7%(9/54) and 44.4%(24/54) of the control group, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (χ2=25.871, 17.999; both P<0.001). In addition, the 1- and 2-year survival rates were 75.4%(52/69) and 40.6%(28/69) in the treatment group and 33.3%(18/54) and 13.0%(7/54) in the control group, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=21.821, 11.349; both P<0.001).
Conclusion Radioactive 125I seed implantation combined with TACE treatment therapy has a good therapeutic effect on patients with advanced liver cancer.