Purpose: Transarterial radioembolization can serve as an ablative therapy for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Given the volumetric variability of liver segments, this study aimed to characterize the safety of ablative radioembolization by determining percent liver treated (%LT) thresholds associated with biochemical toxicity.
Patients and Methods: Patients with HCC receiving a single ablative radioembolization treatment using glass microspheres from 2017 through 2020 were reviewed. %LT was calculated as treatment angiosome volume divided by whole liver volume. Biochemical toxicities were defined as increases in Albumin-Bilirubin (ALBI) grade or Child-Pugh (CP) class compared to baseline and albumin or bilirubin adverse events (AEs) per the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. Receiver operating characteristic curves and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of %LT on toxicities.
Results: Of 141 patients analyzed, 53% (n=75) were ALBI 1, 45% (n=64) ALBI 2, 79% (n=111) CP-A, and 21% (n=30) CP-B. A %LT ≥ 14.5% was associated with grade/class increases in ALBI 2 (p ≤ 0.01) and CP-B patients (p =0.026). In multivariate analysis, a %LT ≥ 14.5% was an independent predictor of increases in the ALBI 2 and CP-B groups (p < 0.01). No significant %LT threshold was found for ALBI 1 and CP-A patients. No grade 3/4 albumin or bilirubin AEs were reported, while grade 2 AEs were related to an initial whole liver volume < 1.3 L (p ≤ 0.01).
Conclusion: Patients with ALBI 2 and CP-B liver function are less likely to have an increase in their respective grade/class when treating < 14.5% of the liver using glass microspheres. ALBI 1 and CP-A patients showed no definitive %LT threshold for biochemical toxicity within the range of this study.
Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, radioembolization, Y-90, adverse events