Hepatic Chemoembolization

Excerpt

Chemoembolization is a technique that involves injecting medication into the feeding arteries of a tumor or the injection of particles designed to slow or stop the arterial supply of oxygen and nutrients to that tumor. Hepatic chemoembolization, a procedure that has been performed since the late 1970s, is one of several techniques used to treat either primary liver cancer or cancer metastatic to the liver. The most common primary liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma. Common types of liver metastases include those from the colon, breast, carcinoid, muscle sarcomas, and melanoma.

Arterial chemoembolization can also be termed transarterial chemoembolization, a method of arterial-directed therapy (ADT). Other ADT methods include:

1. Injection of particles alone without chemotherapy, called transarterial embolization or bland embolization

2. Injection of radioactive particles without chemotherapy, called transarterial radioembolization, or occasionally referred to as the radioactive particle used, eg, Yttrium-90 (Y-90)