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. 2023 Jan;149(1):531-540.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-022-04485-1. Epub 2022 Nov 19.

Conventional and drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization in patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a systematic review and pooled analysis

Affiliations

Conventional and drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization in patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a systematic review and pooled analysis

Meiya He et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: Patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) have poor survival. Conventional transarterial chemoembolization (c-TACE) and drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) are two treatment options for ICC, and this systematic review describes the efficacy of each of these modalities for unresectable ICC to guide clinical practice.

Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases regarding transhepatic arterial chemoembolization for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment Scale (NOS) was used to assess the risk of bias. Tumor response, disease control, and 1-, 2-, 3-year overall survival rate were pooled for estimation.

Results: The number of initial search results was 1035, and 19 articles met the inclusion criteria for this study after the screening. A total of 23 study cohorts and 1091 patients were provided. The pooled objective response rate (ORR) for c-TACE and DEB-TACE treating ICC was 29.4% (95% CI 11.6-50.8%) and 51.2% (95% CI 30.6-71.7%), respectively; disease control rate (DCR) was 72.8% (95% CI 55.6-87.3%) and 88.7% (95% CI 78.8-96.2%), respectively. The pooled survival rate at 1 year, 2 year, and 3 year was 49.7% (95% CI 39.1-60.3%), 24.0% (95% CI 12.6-37.3%), and 23.5% (95% CI 11.1-38.7%) for c-TACE; 58.6% (95% CI 44.2-72.3%), 26.7% (95% CI 18.1-36.3%), and 16.2% (95% CI 6.0-29.4%) for DEB-TACE.

Conclusion: The descriptive analysis suggested that DEB-TACE treatment for ICC may have better tumor response and disease control rates than c-TACE treatment, but the impact on overall survival was not demonstrated significantly by DEB-TACE treatment.

Keywords: Bile ducts cancer; Chemotherapy; Interventional oncology; Intra-arterial therapies; Meta-analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Neither the entire paper nor any part of its content has been submitted to any other journal.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart of selection of the studies included (ICC intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, c-TACE conventional transarterial chemoembolization, DEB-TACE drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pooled ORR, DCR, and 1-, 2-, 3-year OS rate in c-TACE and DEB-TACE group

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