A Systematic Review on the Safety and Effectiveness of yttrium-90 Radioembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis

BACKGROUND/AIM: Over the past two decades, several advances have been made in the management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT). Yttrium-90 ((90)Y) radioembolization has recently been made a treatment option for patients with HCC and PVTT. However, there is still a need to systematicly evaluate the outcomes of (90)Y radioembolization for HCC and PVTT. We aimed to assess the safety and effectiveness of (90)Y radioembolization for HCC and PVTT. We performed a systematic review of clinical trials, clinical studies, and abstracts from conferences that qualified for analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, CINAHL, and the “gray” literature (Google Scholar) were searched for all reports (1991-2016) related to (90)Y radioembolization for HCC and PVTT. RESULTS: A total of 14 clinical studies and three abstracts from conferences including 722 patients qualified for the analysis. The median length of follow-up was 7.2 months; the median time to progression was 5.6 months, and median disease control rate was 74.3%. Radiological response data were reported in five studies, and the median reported value of patients with complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease were 3.2%, 16.5%, 31.3%, and 28%, respectively. The median survival was 9.7 months for all patients, including the median overall survival (OS) were 12.1, 6.1 months of Child-Pugh class A and B patients, and the median OS were 6.1, 13.4 months of main and branch PVTT patients, respectively. The common toxicities were fatigue, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, mostly not requiring medical intervention needed no medication intervention. CONCLUSIONS: (90)Y radioembolization is a safe and effective treatment for HCC and PVTT.