Survival After I-131-Labeled Lipiodol Therapy For Hepatocellular Carcinoma A Single-Center Study Based On A Long-Term Follow-Up

This study investigated the efficacy of (131)iodine-labeled lipiodol (I-131-lipiodol) as a palliative therapy, evaluated overall survival (OS) across Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) : stages, and determined the main prognostic factors influencing OS in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients, methods: We retrospectively analyzed 57 (44 men; mean age, 65.7 years; mean activity per session, 1.6 GBq; mean cumulative activity in patients with >1 sessions, 3.9 GBq) HCC patients who underwent I-131-lipiodol therapy. A majority of patients exhibited Child-Pugh class B (53.6%) disease and a good Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (0-1; 72%). Multinodular disease was observed in 87.7% patients, bilobar disease in 73%, and portal vein occlusion (PVO) in 54%. Furthermore, 21.1% patients were staged as BCLC B and 59.6 % as BCLC C. All patients were followed until death. Results: The median OS was 6.4 months, which varied significantly with disease stage (median OS for BCLC A, B, C, and D was 29.4, 12.0, 4.6, and 2.7 months, respectively; p = 0.009); Child-Pugh score and class; presence of ascites, PVO, or extrahepatic disease; largest lesion size; favourable treatment response; international normalized ratio, baseline albumin and alpha-fetoprotein levels. Patients with a Child-Pugh A liver disease had a longer OS. Conclusion: Currently, different treatment modalities for HCC include radioembolization, transarterial chemoembolization, and systemic therapy with sorafenib; however, I-131-lipiodol therapy remains a feasible alternative for patients without a favourable response to other therapies, particularly for patients with Child-Pugh A liver cirrhosis.