Study doubling the survival time in liver metastases possible

Treat liver metastases by colon cancer with a combination of heat and chemistry

Colorectal cancer is the second most common form of malignant tumor disease. Especially if the cancer has already spread, the expected lifetime decreases significantly. Metastases are most common in the liver. A study has shown that combination therapy with heat and chemistry doubles the average survival time.

Expected life expectancy drops significantly

Colorectal carcinoma (colorectal cancer) is one of the most common cancers in Germany. Every year around 26,000 people die in this country. The chances of recovery depend heavily on how early the cancer and its precursors are discovered. And also of whether the colon cancer has already spread; because then the expected lifetime drops significantly.

Colon cancer often causes metastases in the liver. These are rarely removed surgically. One study has shown that combination therapy with heat and chemistry can help many patients. (Image: psdesign1 / fotolia.com)

Average survival doubled

In colon cancer, metastases are most common in the liver. Ideally, they can be completely removed. According to experts, however, they can only be removed surgically in about 20 percent of cases.

The University Hospital Frankfurt has now - for the first time in a comprehensive study with 452 patients - investigated the efficacy of an interventional oncological therapy: the combination of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and thermoablation.

The use of these two well-tolerated treatments has been reported to double the average survival time.

Combination therapy brings significant profit

"This alternative is particularly suitable for patients in whom all other treatments have shown no success," explains Prof. Thomas Vogl, Director of the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Hospital Frankfurt in a statement.

"The study results show that the combination therapy brings a significant profit for them," said the expert.

The study results were published in the "European Journal of Radiology".

Continuous development

The study results result from long-term, continuous research work.

"We have been developing and researching minimally invasive radiological therapies for many years. With TACE, we have already been able to achieve success in critically ill patients and increase life expectancy, "explains Prof. Vogl.

"With the combination with the thermal ablation now used, the results have again been significantly improved."

In TACE therapy, a catheter system is inserted into the body and connected to the organ to be treated, in this case the liver. Then the exchange of the liver with the rest of the bloodstream of the body is interrupted.

A chemotherapeutic agent is then administered directly into the liver via the catheter system. As a result, the drug acts exclusively in the organ and protects the rest of the body.

In the current study, treatment with TACE alone was compared to a combination of TACE followed by thermoablation.

During thermal ablation, a special probe is first inserted through the skin into the affected tissue under local anesthesia. With their help, the doctors then heat the tumor tissue, causing it to be destroyed and then automatically degraded by the body.

Various energy sources can be used for this process. The current study used microwave ablation and laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT).

Extended lifetime

The combined therapy significantly reduced the diameter of liver metastases. The average survival time of patients doubled from just over a year (12.6 months) to more than two years (25.8 months)..

At the same time, the therapies are associated with only minor side effects.

"We can give seriously ill patients a valuable extra life with this combination therapy - and that on account of the good compatibility with a relatively high quality of life," says Prof. Vogl.

"We will continue our efforts in the future and optimize treatment in further studies to achieve even better outcomes for patients." (Ad)