Background: We previously reported that preoperative chemolipiodolization of the whole liver is effective for reducing the incidence of postoperative recurrence and prolonging survival in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present randomized controlled trial was performed to evaluate the influence of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) on survival after the resection of HCC.
Methods: Operative results and long-term outcome were prospectively compared among 42 patients who received only selective TACE targeting the tumor (selective group), 39 patients who received TACE targeting the tumor plus chemolipiodolization of the whole liver (whole-liver group), and 43 patients without preoperative TACE or chemolipiodolization (control group).
Results: There were no serious side effects of TACE or chemolipiodolization and the operative outcomes did not differ among the three groups. Even though preoperative TACE induced complete tumor necrosis, there were no significant differences in the pattern of intrahepatic recurrence or the time until recurrence among the three groups. There were also no significant differences in disease-free survival or overall survival among the three groups, even among patients with larger tumor size.
Conclusion: These results indicate that preoperative selective TACE and whole-liver chemolipiodolization plus TACE do not reduce the incidence of postoperative recurrence or prolong survival in patients with resectable HCC.