New trends in the multidisciplinary treatment of liver tumors

Gastric Perforation After Microwave Ablation to Adjacent Hepatocellular Lesion

Locoregional treatment modalities for hepatocellular carcinoma are generally effective and safe and benefit the subset of patients who are not eligible for surgery or have marginal hepatic function. This case report discusses a 77-year-old patient with cirrhosis who underwent microwave lesion ablation for 3 hepatocellular carcinoma nodules. On the 12th day after ablation, the patient was diagnosed with a perforation of the anterior wall of the stomach near one of the target ablation sites on the left side of the liver. The patient underwent surgical therapy with clinical improvement. This report highlights the potential risks associated with microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Extending resectability of hilar cholangiocarcinomas: how can it be assessed and improved?

Until the 1980's, Klatskin tumors were considered 'desperate cases' and most of them were not resected; almost no oncologic concept was available. After many improvements, today, extended hepatectomy, including caudate lobe resection and lymphoadenectomy, have become a standard of care for oncologicaly radical resection of Klatskin tumors. Portal vein en bloc resection, if necessary, is a diffused standard assuring R0-resection without any improvement of survival in most series. Arterial resection remains episodical and controversial in its oncologic impact. Arterial resection-reconstruction was demonstrated to be feasible with many different technical possibilities. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, refinement of associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy and liver transplantations are some possible future resources for treatment of those aggressive tumors that could be able to expand the pool of treatable patients.

'Liver-first' approach for metastatic colorectal cancer

The liver-first approach was proposed for the first time in 2006 to obtain resectability of stage IV colorectal cancer patients and complete the therapeutic plan. From then some groups have used this new revolutionary approach reporting promising results. Other alternative strategies have been proposed for metastatic patients. The authors reviewed the literature weighing the pros and cons of each strategy proposed to manage these advanced tumor stages. The therapeutic options are analyzed in the light of oncologic problems and evidence. Also problems, questions and perspectives are given. Even if the 'liver-first' approach seems to be a promising strategy, the ideal diagnostic-therapeutic flowchart for metastatic colorectal cancer is still difficult to standardize. The great heterogeneity of this population of patients is one of the main problems. A 'tailored approach' philosophy is necessary to calibrate, in a multidisciplinary setting, a case-by-case choice of therapeutic options.

Role of Locoregional and Systemic Approaches for the Treatment of Patients with Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Although gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are often perceived as being indolent tumors, more than half of the patients will harbor liver metastases at the time of diagnosis. Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors have the potential to be aggressive and resistant to therapy, making the integration of both locoregional and systemic therapy even more critical in the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic lesions. Over the last several years, significant advancements have been made in the surgical treatment, liver-directed therapy, and medical management of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. While surgical resection is the cornerstone of therapy, cytoreductive surgery, orthotopic liver transplantation, local ablation, and intra-arterial therapy all improve the prognosis of patients suffering with locally advanced or metastatic disease. In addition, great strides have been made in the medical management of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, particularly with the evolution of novel molecular targeted therapy, such as everolimus and sunitinib. Hence, gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor is becoming a disease process requiring more of a multi-disciplinary approach with the integration of both locoregional and systemic therapies for improved outcomes.

Percutaneous microwave ablation vs radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular cancer ranks fifth among cancers and is related to chronic viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse, steatohepatitis and liver autoimmunity. Surgical resection and orthotopic liver transplantation have curative potential, but fewer than 20% of patients are suitable candidates. Interventional treatments are offered to the vast majority of patients. Radiofrequency (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are among the therapeutic modalities, with similar indications which include the presence of up to three lesions, smaller than 3 cm in size, and the absence of extrahepatic disease. The therapeutic effect of both methods relies on thermal injury, but MWA uses an electromagnetic field as opposed to electrical current used in RFA. Unlike MWA, the effect of RFA is partially limited by the heat-sink effect and increased impedance of the ablated tissue. Compared with RFA, MWA attains a more predictable ablation zone, permits simultaneous treatment of multiple lesions, and achieves larger coagulation volumes in a shorter procedural time. Major complications of both methods are comparable and infrequent (approximately 2%-3%), and they include haemorrhage, infection/abscess, visceral organ injury, liver failure, and pneumothorax. RFA may incur the additional complication of skin burns. Nevertheless, there is no compelling evidence for differences in clinical outcomes, including local recurrence rates and survival.

Radiofrequency heat-enhanced chemotherapy for breast cancer: towards interventional molecular image-guided chemotherapy

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women worldwide. Recent developments in minimally invasive interventional radiology techniques have significantly improved breast cancer treatment. This study aimed to develop a novel technique for the local management of breast cancers using radiofrequency heat (RFH). We performed both in vitro experiments using human breast cancer cells and in vivo validation in xenograft animal models with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pathological correlation to investigate the feasibility of our approach. Four treatment groups, including (1) no treatment (control), (2) RFH-only, (3) chemo (doxorubicin)-only, and (4) combination therapy with both doxorubicin and RFH, were conducted in each experiment. In vitro combination therapy significantly decreased breast cancer cell proliferation while increased their apoptosis index compared to the other three groups. MRI demonstrated a significant tumor size reduction in animals treated with combination therapy compared to those receiving other treatments in vivo. Such result was further confirmed by pathological examination. In conclusion, our findings suggests that RFH can enhance the therapeutic efficiency of doxorubicin on breast cancers, thus establishing the basis for future development of interventional molecular image-guided local chemotherapy for breast malignancies.