Local arterial infusion of superparamagnetic iron oxide particles in hepatocellular carcinoma: A feasibility and 3.0 T MRI study.

OBJECTIVES

We sought to prove feasibility of selective arterial infusion of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) particles in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We studied 13 patients with HCC who underwent modified transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Six patients received concurrent infusion of Ferucarbotran (Resovist, Schering, Berlin, Germany) in tumor-feeding arteries, and another 6 received MFL AS (MagForce, Nanotechnologies, Berlin, Germany). The iron content of both dispersions was 3.92 mg. One patient served as a control. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as baseline and immediate follow-up investigation.

RESULTS

Selective arterial infusion of both SPIO particles resulted in significant intratumoral signal intensity decrease on T1-weighted sequences (P < 0.0001), which was greater after MagForce infusion compared with Resovist (P = 0.002). Only minimal amounts of dispersed particles were found in adjacent normal liver parenchyma. No change in intratumoral signal intensity was noted when ferromagnetic particles were omitted.

CONCLUSIONS

Modified TACE with selective arterial infusion of SPIO particles can be used for precise tumor targeting in patients with HCC, for which MagForce appeared superior to Resovist.