Transcatheter arterial embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein thrombosis.

In order to evaluate the possible benefits of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with peripheral portal vein thrombosis, 96 consecutive HCC cases with peripheral portal vein thrombosis were analysed. Of them, 35 cases received TAE and 61 cases did not. Most (77.8%) of the TAE-treated cases showed decreased alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels after treatment, but 57.1% of them suffered another rise in AFP levels and subsequently died. One patient (2.8%) developed progressive jaundice after TAE and died within 1 month, while four of the non-TAE cases died within 1 month after diagnosis. In general, TAE is safe for HCC patients with peripheral portal vein thrombosis. In addition, using Cox's regression model for multivariate survival analysis, serum total bilirubin (< or =, > 2 mg/dL; P = 0.0254), AFP (< or = 3155 ng/mL, > 3155 ng/mL; P = 0.0002) and treatments (TAE, non-TAE; P = 0.0059) were found to affect their prognosis. There was significant difference in survival between TAE and non-TAE groups, the 6 month, 1 year and 2 year survival rates were 91.4 versus 62.3%, 51.4 versus 26.2% and 17.1 versus 4.9% (P = 0.0017). The median survival times of TAE and non-TAE groups were 10.3 versus 3.7 months, respectively. Though TAE only provided palliative treatment, it did prolong survival in HCC patients with peripheral portal vein thrombosis.