Clinical efficacy of drug-loaded CalliSpheres transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in patients with primary hepatocarcinoma

Objective: To compare the efficacy between drug-loaded CalliSpheres transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (D- TACE) and the conventional transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (C- TACE) in patients with primary hepatocarcinoma. Methods: The medical records of 95 patients with liver cancer treated with DTACE from January 2019 to December 2021 in the Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. According to the application of D-TACE, the patients were divided into D-TACE group (observation group, 44 cases) and C-TACE group (control group, 51 cases). The clinical efficacy was observed 3 months after treatment. The liver function indexes were evaluated by checking alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL), albumin (ALB), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), electrolyte potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and liver cancer cell viability. The short-term clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of the two groups were observed and followed up for 12 months. Results: After treatment, AFP levels in both groups were lower than before treatment, and the level of AFP in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group after treatment (P＜0.01). The disease control rates of observation group and control group were 88.63% and 70.59%, respectively, with statistically significant differences between the groups (P＜0.05). There was no statistical significance in complications between the two groups (P＞0.05). The 12-month survival rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P＜0.05). The grades of Child-Pugh, the number of tumors, the level of AFP, and the use of drug-loaded CalliSpheres were closely related to the prognosis of the patient’s overall survival. Conclusion: D-TACE has better short-term efficacy than CTACE in the treatment of primary hepatocarcinoma, and has good safety and prognosis.