Indications for TACE
Chemoembolization is indicated in patients with liver-dominant hepatic malignancies who are not candidates for curative resection.
In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), TACE has been used as palliative treatment or as a bridge to liver transplantation.
It is considered standard of care for intermediate stages of HCC according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system.
TACE has also been used as a palliative treatment for patients with unresectable cholangiocarcinoma, and hepatic metastases from neuroendocrine tumors, colorectal carcinoma, breast carcinoma, as well as soft-tissue sarcomas.
The injection of the chemotherapeutic agent mixed with ethiodized oil followed by embolization with particles is considered conventional TACE as opposed to a more recent refinement of the technique using drug-eluting beads to both deliver the chemotherapy and act as the embolic agent.