Arterial Chemoembolization for the Treatment of Desmoid Fibromatosis

Desmoid fibromatoses are rare (1-2 cases/million per year) and locally aggressive, characterized histologically by monoclonal myoblasts present in abundant stromal tissue.The current therapeutic strategy has abandoned primary resection, as recurrences after resection are common and often their phenotype is more infiltrative. Nonsurgical approaches remain suboptimal. For asymptomatic disease, current guidelines suggest an initial period of active surveillance.

The current scientific evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of the treatment of desmoid fibromatosis by arterial embolization is constituted by several retrospective and prospective studies. These studies report promising results through the use of chemoembolization, that is, arterial embolization using particles loaded with chemotherapy. Embolization of desmoid tumors alone, without chemotherapy, on the contrary, has been shown to be inefficient. Doxorubicin is routinely used in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas and other mesenchymal malignancies. Its use against desmoid fibromatosis is effective but associated with hematologic, gastrointestinal, and cardiac toxicity. Consequently, this drug is reserved for symptomatic, nonresponsive, rapidly growing or life-threatening tumors. The intrinsic hypervascularity of desmoid tissue can be exploited as a conduit to achieve local distribution of Doxorubicin by navigation of a catheter endovascular. Doxorubicin contains a protonated amine group which can establish an ionic bond with the sulfonate present on the surface of microbeads of hydrogel, ensuring embolization and elution of the drug. This process allows high concentrations of Doxorubicin in the target tissue and low concentrations in the systemic circulation.

Inclusion criteria

• FIbromatosis demsoid symptomatic and in active phase (documented growth at last follow-ups)
• Patients who are not candidates for surgery or cryoablation

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with life expectancy <3 months or severely impaired status functional status (ASA 4)
• Patients with fibromatosis not in active phase, documented clinically and by investigations imaging (MRI, CT)
• Patients with coagulation deficiency or plateletopenic disease
• Patients with documented active infection