A descriptive analysis of the characteristics, treatment response and prognosis of hepatic dominant solid tumors undergoing selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT).

BACKGROUND

Selective internal radiotherapy is widely used for liver dominant diseases of solid tumors. However, data about sequential treatment and prognostic factors are lacking.

METHODS

We consecutively included all 209 patients who received a selective internal radiotherapy intervention between January 2015 and May 2019. A retrospective analysis of their electronic patient records was performed regarding diagnosis of cancer, previous therapies and applied radioactive activity. A multicenter follow-up at least 6 weeks after intervention to assess radiological response and irregular subsequent follow-ups to asses disease progression were conducted. In addition, subgroup analyses were carried out.

RESULTS

The most frequently treated indications were hepatocellular carcinoma (37%), colorectal cancers (14%), neuroendocrine tumors (9%), and breast cancer (8%). In hepatocellular carcinoma, selective internal radiotherapy was most performed without prior systemic therapy (40%), and for the remaining indications, most often after surgery with systemic therapy in sequence. Local radiological response, defined as either regression or stable disease, was assessed at least 6 weeks after intervention and showed 52% across all indications. Hepatocellular carcinoma (59%) and breast cancer (67%) showed an excellent, colorectal cancers (29%) a particularly poor response rate. Neuroendocrine tumors showed the third longest median post-selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) survival with 12.4 months and the second longest median progression-free time with 5.2 months. Hepatocellular carcinoma showed even better results with a post-SIRT survival of 15.7 months and a median progression-free time of 5.3 months. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors showed significantly worse outcomes than other neuroendocrine tumors, regarding median post-SIRT survival and median progression-free time. No relevant SIRT related differences among sexes were detected.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with neuroendocrine tumors, breast cancer in late therapy lines and early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma seem to show better responses to SIRT than other entities. Colorectal cancers were mainly treated with SIRT in a second or third therapy line but with considerably weaker results than other entities.