Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma after attempted portal vein embolization in 25 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Portal vein embolization (PVE) has been widely used to facilitate major liver resection; however, curative surgery even after PVE may not be possible mainly because of inadequate hypertrophy of remnant liver or disease progression. For these patients, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the next therapeutic option. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of TACE after PVE in 25 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). CONCLUSION: TACE using a single chemotherapeutic agent can be performed safely and effectively in HCC patients who previously underwent PVE. TACE after PVE allowed two of the patients to be downstaged so they could undergo surgical resection.