Purpose: To assess the treatment safety and median overall survival following transarterial embolization with small-size particles loaded with irinotecan (DEB-IRI) in patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM).
Material and Methods: Patients aged >18 years with histologically proven colorectal cancer with mono- or bilobar liver metastases progressing at standard chemotherapy underwent DEB-IRI embolization with 40 μm diameter embolic microspheres. Primary study endpoints were treatment safety based on 30-day freedom from serious adverse events (SAE) and overall survival.
Results: From January 2014 to September 2019, 57 patients (33 males, 24 female, age range 40-83, mean age 63 years), underwent 199 embolization procedures (mean 3.5, range 1–12 per patient). All patients received at least two lines of systemic therapies. No SAEs were reported. A total of 30 treatment-related AEs occurred across all embolization procedures, 17/30 (57%;) G1, 8/30 (27%;) G2 and 5/30 G3 (17%;) AEs. No G4 or G5 treatment-related AEs occurred. Median overall survival was 17 months (95% CI 8.1-21.5 months).
Conclusions: DEB-IRI embolization with small beads was a safe procedure in the treatment of patients with CRLM. Larger prospective trials are needed to confirm these promising results in terms of safety and overall survival.
