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Irreversible electroporation for nonthermal tumor ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: initial clinical experience in Japan

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Abstract

Purpose

This clinical study was conducted to evaluate the safety and short-term outcomes of irreversible electroporation (IRE) for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Japan.

Materials and methods

The study was designed in a prospective setting. Five patients (3 men and 2 women; mean age, 66.6 ± 5.8 years) with 6 HCCs were enrolled and treated using percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided IRE. Safety was assessed based on adverse events and laboratory values. Local control was assessed using contrast-enhanced US with a perflubutane microbubble contrast agent, contrast-enhanced multiphase CT, and gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI (EOB-MRI) at designated points.

Results

The tumors ranged in diameter from 11 to 28 mm (mean diameter, 17.5 ± 6.3 mm). Five of the 6 tumors (83 %) were successfully treated, with no local recurrence to date (mean follow-up 244 ± 55 days). In 1 lesion located in liver segment 1, residual tumor was diagnosed at 7 days after intervention by follow-up EOB-MRI. No serious complications related to the IRE procedure were observed.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that image-guided percutaneous IRE can achieve satisfactory local disease control, particularly for small HCCs, and is well tolerated by patients.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number 26865030.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan

    Katsutoshi Sugimoto, Fuminori Moriyasu, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Hirohito Takeuchi, Saori Ogawa, Mayumi Ando, Takatomo Sano, Toshifumi Mori, Yoshihiro Furuichi & Ikuo Nakamura

  2. Department of Radiology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuhiro Saito

Authors
  1. Katsutoshi Sugimoto
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  2. Fuminori Moriyasu
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  3. Yoshiyuki Kobayashi
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  4. Kazuhiro Saito
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  5. Hirohito Takeuchi
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  6. Saori Ogawa
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  7. Mayumi Ando
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  8. Takatomo Sano
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  9. Toshifumi Mori
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  10. Yoshihiro Furuichi
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  11. Ikuo Nakamura
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katsutoshi Sugimoto.

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Sugimoto, K., Moriyasu, F., Kobayashi, Y. et al. Irreversible electroporation for nonthermal tumor ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: initial clinical experience in Japan. Jpn J Radiol 33, 424–432 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-015-0442-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-015-0442-1

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