Carbon-ion radiotherapy subsequent to balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration for hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatic encephalopathy: a multidisciplinary approach

Radical treatments of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) can be often difficult due to poor liver function or disturbance of consciousness. An effective treatment requires a combinatorial approach incorporating a treatment for HE and radical therapy for HCC that does not compromise liver function. Here, we report a case of a 78-year-old Japanese male with HCC and HE caused by splenorenal shunt. Serum ammonia levels were high. He was not suitable for surgery, percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, or transarterial chemoembolization due to the location of the tumor and poor liver function, which included HE. Thus, he underwent BRTO, with an immediate improvement in both HE and serum ammonia levels. After BRTO, he received C-ion RT as a radical treatment for HCC. After treatment, HCC was well controlled; however, at 35 months post-initiation of C-ion RT, he developed local recurrence without a further reduction in liver function status. Therefore, we repeated C-ion RT. The patient remains alive at 3 months post-treatment, with no evidence of local recurrence, distant metastasis, or toxicity. Although this is a single case report, it suggests that a combinatorial treatment consisting of BRTO and C-ion RT may increase survival rates of patients with HCC and HE.