Effectiveness of individual audio-visual coaching, respiratory modulated stereotactic body radiotherapy for localized hepatocellular carcinoma: Analysis of 29 cases from a single academic radiotherapy center

Liang-Cheng Chen; Hon-Yi Lin; Moon-Sing Lee; Wen-Yen Chiou; Li-Wen Huang; Chia-Hui Chew; Feng-Chun Hsu; Shih-Kai Hung

doi:10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_247_20

Effectiveness of individual audio-visual coaching, respiratory modulated stereotactic body radiotherapy for localized hepatocellular carcinoma: Analysis of 29 cases from a single academic radiotherapy center

Tzu Chi Med J. 2021 Apr 26;33(4):380-387. doi: 10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_247_20. eCollection 2021 Oct-Dec.

Authors

Liang-Cheng Chen¹, Hon-Yi Lin^{1

2

3}, Moon-Sing Lee^{1

2}, Wen-Yen Chiou^{1

2}, Li-Wen Huang¹, Chia-Hui Chew¹, Feng-Chun Hsu¹, Shih-Kai Hung^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
² School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
³ Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan.

Abstract

Objectives: Recently, Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) has been suggested for managing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) curatively. Thus, we conducted this clinical study to evaluate retrospectively the effect of individualized audio-visual (AV) coaching, respiratory modulated SBRT.

Materials and methods: Between 2014 and 2018, 29 patients with inoperable Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0-B HCC received AV coaching, respiratory-modulated SBRT. We constructed a task-oriented multidisciplinary team to establish a standard operation process of respiratory modulation procedures and developed our AV coaching devices. In the training period, a goodness-of-fit test was applied individually. SBRT was delivered with a total dose of 40-54 Gy in 5-6 fractions individually. Freedom from local progression (FFLP) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using SPSS (version 17, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) life tables.

Results: The patient characteristics were as follows: 32.7 ± 16 mm in maximum tumor diameter (range 11-94); BCLC stage 0: 3.4%, BCLC A: 48.3%, BCLC B: 48.3%; Child-Pugh classification A: 86.2%, Child-Pugh classification B: 13.8%, and a median of 2 prior liver-directed treatments (range 0-7). One-, 2-, and 3-year rates of FFLP of SBRT were 96.6%, 96.6%, and 96.6%, respectively. One-, 2-, and 3-year rates of OS were 81.5%, 72.4%, and 67.2%, respectively. No adverse event (AE) occurred in 41.4% of patients, 48.3% developed grade (G) 1-2 AE, 10.3% had G3 AE and none had G4-5 AE.

Conclusion: Respiration-modulated SBRT is a promising noninvasive treatment option for patients with inoperable and localized HCC. Our data show that SBRT provides comparable tumor control to historical curative options like surgery and radiofrequency ablation of localized tumors. Thus, we are conducting a further prospective clinical trial with the intent to demarcate the clinical effectiveness of SBRT in a larger population of patients with HCC.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy; Stereotactic body radiation therapy.