A study published on April 9, 2008 in JAMA reveals that medical scientists got better results to improve the survival time for advanced liver cancer patients by combining one type of chemotherapy with another radio thermal therapy instead of each therapy alone.

Liver cancer is a worldwide increasing disease and it is described as tumors or growth on the liver. Most of these cancers are not diagnosed until advanced stages and at that moment no standard therapy works as treatment

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE)

The therapy called transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) sedate the progression of tumors and increase survival rates for patients by unifying two effects: that of targeted chemotherapy with blockage of the blood supply to the tumor. Another therapy, radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA) is a latest technology that is usually performed using a particularly designed probe to apply radiofrequency energy after insertion into the tumor. TACE and RFA have some limitations and neither satisfactorily controls liver cancer tumors that are larger than 1.2 inches (3cm). The survival benefits for TACE used in combination with RFA therapy have not previously been studied.

Radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA)

Bao-Quan Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues from Shandong University, Jinan, China, carried out a randomized, controlled trial analyzing the long-term benefits of putting together TACE and RFA therapies for liver cancer tumors that are larger than 3cm. In the trial, 291 patients were studied during January 2001 and May 2004 at a single center in China. The subjects were randomly assigned to combined treatment (96 patients), TACE alone (95 patients), or RFA alone (100 patients). They were examined for a median 28.5 months and the survival rates of the patients were calculated.

After this period, 69% of the TACE and RFA group had died. This was right for 84% of the TACE only group, and for 84% of the RFA only group. This lower rate of death in the combination group was the result of a lesser number of deaths due to tumor progression.

The median survival time for the group given combination therapy was 37 months, while only 24 months in the TACE group and 22 months in the RFA group. This shows significant improvement in the survival rates in TACE and RFA treated patients.

54% of the patients in the combination group achieved an objective response to treatment that was sustained for at least 6 months. In contrast, this was true for 35% of the TACE patients and 36% of the RFA group.

Uninodular or Multinodular

Patients with a type of liver cancer called uni nodular or multinodular, the overall survival was particularly improved when given combination therapy, in contrast the RFA or TACE groups.

The authors describe the potential new therapy as a hope for patients with liver cancer. “The current study demonstrates that combination therapy with TACE and RFA was an effective and safe treatment that may improve long-term survival for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma [liver cancer] larger than 3 cm,” they are of the view.

Andrew X. Zhu, M.D., Ph.D., of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, M.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, contributed in a joint editorial in which they state that these discoveries are indeed favorable .

Articles/News published in here are unique and property of the site only. Copying Content or Publishing Article from AllinfoDir HealthInfo is strictly not allowed and against Site’s policy.