Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization with spherical embolic material for locally advanced breast cancer: first report of HepaSphere™ treatment for primary breast cancer

A 57-year-old female was diagnosed as having primary breast cancer (invasive carcinoma of no special type), which was immunohistochemically negative for oestrogen receptor, androgen receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor Type 2. The main tumour was 54 × 35 mm in size and was located in the internal upper area of the left breast. The tumour had markedly invaded the skin and a daughter nodule was observed in the external upper area of the ipsilateral breast. An enlarged lymph node measuring 12mm in diameter was present in the axilla and an affected parasternal lymph node was also observed. A blood test showed no abnormalities and the patient was negative for tumour markers. We performed three sessions of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization with docetaxel-loaded HepaSphere™. The treatment procedure was successfully performed in all the three sessions. No adverse events higher than Grade 3 were observed. The sizes of the primary lesion and axillary lymph node decreased to 26 × 14 mm (37% reduction) and 10mm, respectively. The parasternal lymph node completely resolved. 2 months later, left total mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection were performed. The histopathological post-therapy effect was considered to be a mild response (Grade 1a) in the breast lesion and a complete response (Grade 3) in the axillary lymph node. The mean±standard deviation of the minor axis of the vessels embolized with spherical particles was 183.0±96.5 μm. Our results indicate that transcatheter arterial chemoembolization used together with HepaSphere can be an alternative and effective therapy for locally advanced breast cancer.