Combined CT-guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy (CT-HDRBT) and transarterial chemoembolization with irinotecan-loaded microspheres improve local tumor control and progression-free survival in patients with unresectable colorectal liver metastases compared with mono-CT-HDRBT

Stefanie Friedrich; Felix Busch; Martin Jonczyk; Gero Wieners; Georg Böning; Willie Magnus Lüdemann; Aymen Meddeb; Federico Collettini; Bernhard Gebauer

doi:10.5114/jcb.2023.125480

Combined CT-guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy (CT-HDRBT) and transarterial chemoembolization with irinotecan-loaded microspheres improve local tumor control and progression-free survival in patients with unresectable colorectal liver metastases compared with mono-CT-HDRBT

J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2023 Feb;15(1):15-26. doi: 10.5114/jcb.2023.125480. Epub 2023 Feb 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin, Germany.
² Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Operative Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin, Germany.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the effectivity and toxicity of monotherapy with computed tomography-guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy (CT-HDRBT) vs. combination therapy of transarterial chemoembolization with irinotecan (irinotecan-TACE) and CT-HDRBT in patients with large unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) with a diameter of > 3 cm.

Material and methods: Forty-four retrospectively matched patients with unresectable CRLM were treated either with mono-CT-HDRBT or with a combination of irinotecan-TACE and CT-HDRBT (n = 22 in each group). Matching parameters included treatment, disease, and baseline characteristics. National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (version 5.0) were used to evaluate treatment toxicity and the Society of Interventional Radiology classification was applied to analyze catheter-related adverse events. Statistical analysis involved Cox regression, Kaplan-Meier estimator, log-rank test, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, Shapiro-Wilk test, Wilcoxon test, paired sample t-test, and McNemar test. P-values < 0.05 were deemed significant.

Results: Combination therapy ensued longer median progression-free survival (PFS: 5/2 months, p = 0.002) and significantly lower local (23%/68%, p < 0.001) and intrahepatic (50%/95%, p < 0.001) progress rates compared with mono-CT-HDRBT after a median follow-up time of 10 months. Additionally, tendencies for longer local tumor control (LTC: 17/9 months, p = 0.052) were found in patients undergoing both interventions. After combination therapy, aspartate and alanine aminotransferase toxicity levels increased significantly, while total bilirubin toxicity levels showed significantly higher increases after monotherapy. No catheter-associated major or minor complications were identified in each cohort.

Conclusions: Combining irinotecan-TACE with CT-HDRBT can improve LTC rates and PFS compared with mono-CT-HDRBT in patients with unresectable CRLM. The combination of irinotecan-TACE and CT-HDRBT shows satisfying safety profiles.

Keywords: Kaplan-Meier estimate; colorectal neoplasms; interventional; matched-pair analysis; neoplasm metastasis; radiology; treatment outcome.