Drug-Eluting Bead, Irinotecan (DEBIRI) Therapy for Refractory Colorectal Liver Metastasis: A Systematic Review

Colorectal cancer and related mortality present a profound challenge in its management, even in this modern age. Even today, colorectal cancer-related deaths rank third in the world. Despite having multiple lines of chemotherapy, combined with radiotherapy and chemoembolization techniques, after or before surgical resection, the five-year survival rate is approximately 20%. Drug-eluting bead, irinotecan (DEBIRI) is a new technique that involves embolization of the feeding vessels to the tumour and delivering irinotecan for its chemotherapeutic effects. A significant amount of literature compares DEBIRI as an adjunct to various lines of chemotherapy. However, so far, not much data are available on DEBIRI as a singular treatment for those patients who have had multiple chemotherapies and still progressing and are not fit for liver resection. In this systematic review, we aim to highlight and bring together the results of those studies that focused on this specific patient group. A systematic search of the literature involving three large databases (published between January 2017 and July 2022), excluding languages other than English, was conducted to identify articles documenting patients who had disease progression despite chemotherapy and were not fit for surgical resection. The level of evidence and the quality check were assessed by two independent reviewers, and consensus with the senior author resolved disagreements. Out of seven studies that met the final criteria, we found a pooled cohort of 302 patients. The mean age of the patients was 61.2 years, ranging from 40.7 to 84 years. The most commonly used DEBIRI beads were M1 (70-150 um) and M2 (100-300 um), but two studies reported the use of 40 um as well. The total number of DEBIRI treatments performed in our pooled cohort was 904. The majority of the studies reported only G1/G2 toxicities among the patients, with maximal toxicity of G4 in a few selected patients. The median overall survival in our pooled cohort was 19.52 months. The median progression-free survival in our data was 5.76 months. Our systematic review concludes that DEBIRI is undoubtedly a useful treatment modality with an acceptable toxicity profile. This treatment offers a good overall survival benefit for refractory colorectal liver metastasis.