Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for potentially resectable metastatic colorectal cancer (MCC) is becoming a more common treatment algorithm. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of precision hepatic arterial Irinotecan therapy in unresectable MCC.
Methods: An open-label, multi-centre, multi-national single arm study of MCC patients, who received hepatic arterial irinotecan. Primary endpoints were safety, tolerance and metastatic tumour resection.
Results: Fifty-five patients with metastatic colorectal to the liver underwent a total of 90 hepatic arterial irinotecan treatments. The extent of liver involvement was < 25% in 75% of the patients (n= 41), between 26 and 50% in 15% of the patients (n= 11) and >50% in 10% of the patients (n= 24). The median number of hepatic lesions was four (range 1-20), with a median total size of all target lesions of 9 cm (range 5.5-28 cm) with 50% of patients having bilobar tumour distribution. The median number of irinotecan treatments was two (range 1-5). The median treatment dose was 100 mg (range 100-200) with a median total hepatic treatment of 200 mg (range 200-650). The majority of treatments (86%) were performed as lobar infusion treatments, and 30% of patients were treated with concurrent simultaneous chemotherapy. Eleven (20%) patients demonstrated significant response and downstage of their disease or demonstrated stable disease without extra-hepatic disease progression allowing resection, ablation or resection and ablation. There were no post-operative deaths. Post-operative complications morbidity occurred in 18% of patients, with none of them hepatic related. Non-tumorous liver resected demonstrated no evidence of steatohepatitis from the irinotecan arterial infusion.
Conclusions: Hepatic arterial infusion irinotecan drug-eluting beads is safe and effective in pre-surgical therapy and helpful in evaluating the biology of metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver prior to planned hepatic resection.