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Y-90 Radioembolization Combined with a PD-1 Inhibitor for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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Abstract

Nivolumab has recently received approval by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients previously treated with sorafenib. Nivolumabs’ overall response rate of 20% (El-Khoueiry et al. in Lancet 389:2492–2502, 2017) is a step forward for these patients, but there is significant room for improvement. We describe a case of combining Y-90 radioembolization with nivolumab for treatment of angioinvasive HCC, which successfully bridged patient to partial hepatectomy. Surgical pathology showed negative margins with complete pathological response. With the introduction of immunotherapy for HCC, combining Y-90 radioembolization with immunotherapy may enhance the anti-tumoral immune response of checkpoint inhibitors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Eric Wehrenberg-Klee & Suvranu Ganguli

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Lipika Goyal & Andrew X. Zhu

  3. New England Cancer Care Specialists, Scarborough, ME, USA

    Matthew Dugan

Authors
  1. Eric Wehrenberg-Klee
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  2. Lipika Goyal
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  3. Matthew Dugan
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  4. Andrew X. Zhu
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  5. Suvranu Ganguli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suvranu Ganguli.

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Conflict of interest

Suvranu Ganguli is a proctor for SIRTEX medical. The other authors have no conflicts of interest.

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Consent for publication was obtained for every individual person’s data including the study.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

This study has obtained IRB approval from the Massachusetts General Hospital IRB and the need for informed consent was waived.

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Wehrenberg-Klee, E., Goyal, L., Dugan, M. et al. Y-90 Radioembolization Combined with a PD-1 Inhibitor for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 41, 1799–1802 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-018-1993-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-018-1993-1

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