In malignant bone and soft-tissue tumors, intra-arterial chemotherapy and limb-saving surgery have become popular. Myocutaneous inflammatory change and necrosis are the major local side effects of intra-arterial chemotherapy. (99m)Tc-macroaggregated albumin (MAA) imaging with intra-arterial tracer administration was performed to evaluate drug distribution, and the ability of (99m)Tc-MAA imaging to predict local side effects was assessed.
Methods: In 24 patients, 42 (99m)Tc-MAA images were obtained with tracer injection through an intra-arterial catheter that was inserted into the proximal portion of the tumor-feeding artery. Abnormal uptake other than by tumor was assessed visually and quantitatively.
Results: In visual analysis, abnormal (99m)Tc-MAA accumulation was observed in 21 of 42 images. In the first consecutive 13 of these 21 images, intra-arterial chemotherapy with cisplatin, doxorubicin, and caffeine was administered, and myocutaneous inflammation or necrosis in the area corresponding to the abnormal (99m)Tc-MAA uptake was observed in 11. In contrast, none of the 21 images without abnormal (99m)Tc-MAA uptake demonstrated any local adverse effect from intra-arterial chemotherapy. In the last consecutive 8 images with abnormal (99m)Tc-MAA uptake, intra-arterial chemotherapy was initiated with only cisplatin, and doxorubicin and caffeine administration was changed to the intravenous route. In all 8 of these images, no local adverse effects from chemotherapy were observed. Overall, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of (99m)Tc-MAA imaging for the detection of myocutaneous damage were 100% (11/11), 91% (21/23), and 94% (32/34), respectively, and positive and negative predictive values were 85% (11/13) and 100% (21/21), respectively. In quantitative analysis, when the diagnostic threshold of the uptake ratio was set at 2.5, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the detection of myocutaneous complications were 91% (10/11), 96% (22/23), and 94% (32/34), respectively, and positive and negative predictive values were 91% (10/11) and 96% (22/23), respectively.
Conclusion: (99m)Tc-MAA imaging with intra-arterial infusion before intra-arterial chemotherapy for bone and soft-tissue tumors can facilitate prediction of local myocutaneous adverse effects due to chemotherapy.