Outcome of conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) in the management of spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly vascular tumor and mortality after spontaneous rupture of HCC remains considerably high. There are no definitive guidelines for the management of ruptured HCC and no fixed protocol has been proposed in the literature. We evaluated the outcome of conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) in the management of spontaneously ruptured HCC and factors affecting the outcome of cTACE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single center retrospective study analyzing the outcome of patients presenting with spontaneous rupture of HCC who received cTACE from January 2014 to June 2017. These patients were followed up periodically for clinical and imaging findings to ascertain the technical effectiveness along with survival. RESULTS: Sixteen patients were identified who received cTACE for ruptured HCC. Majority of the patients (81.3%) had abdominal pain, while 25% had hypovolemic shock at initial presentation. Complete response and partial response were seen in 35.7% and 57.1% of patients, respectively. One patient (7.1%) showed progressive disease in form of peritoneal spread along the liver surface. The overall cumulative survival rates at 30 days, 180 days, and at 1 year were 87.5%, 72.2%, and 54.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: cTACE is safe in patients with spontaneous HCC rupture and it leads to immediate hemostasis along with overall survival advantage. Achieving quick hemostasis may be a key to better outcome.