Combination Chemoembolization and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third ranked cause of global cancer mortality. There is an increasing incidence of HCC in the United States over the last twenty years, largely due to the Hepatitis C epidemic but increasingly related as well to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

This is a non-randomized pilot study to assess the objective response rate and durability of response of combination Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) with immediate stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Eligible patients will be selected based on having a lesion greater than 3 cm which would make them ineligible for other local therapies such as TACE and thermal ablation (TA). Eligible, consented, and registered patients will be treated with two sessions of standard TACE with ethiodol separated by a 4-week interval. After ensuring adequate return to baseline liver function, the patients will then be treated with SBRT to the targeted lesion to 30-45 Gy in 5 fractions. Tumor response will be assessed using mRECIST criteria as well diffusion weight imaging (DWI) via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) surveillance. In addition, tolerability and toxicity will be recorded via CTCAE v. 4.0. The essential hypothesis of this study is that combination TACE and SBRT for > 3 cm HCC will produce higher response rates and durable control compared to TACE alone.

Inclusion criteria

• Participants must be diagnosed with HCC either pathologically or by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) radiographic criteria (Bruix Hepatology 2011). The criteria specifies CT or MRI intense arterial uptake followed by "washout" of contrast in the venous-delayed phases. Any atypical lesions must be confirmed by biopsy.
• A single liver lesion with tumor size ≥ 3 cm as defined as maximal diameter in the axial dimension on MRI. Included in the measurement are both enhancing and non-enhancing components of the lesion.
• Maximum tumor size of 7 cm as defined as maximal diameter in the axial dimension on MRI.
• Age ≥ 18 years
• Child-Pugh class A or B7 without ascites
• ECOG score 0
• No prior treatment of current HCC. However, recurrent HCC after resection may be included.
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnancy which will be assessed via pregnancy test prior to TACE and repeated prior to SBRT.
• Metastatic disease outside of the liver
• Vascular invasion as evidenced by vessel occlusion or radiographic evidence of tumor thrombus.
• Contraindications to MRI, including claustrophobia, metallic implants, and pacemakers
• Tumor for which adequate radiation dosage cannot be safely delivered (see dose constraints below)
• Prior therapeutic radiation therapy to the abdomen and/or lower thorax as defined as below the carina to the pelvic inlet.
• Inability to provide informed consent based on persistent lack of understanding, inability to find adequate translation, impaired mental status such as mental retardation, drug induced, or traumatic brain injury.
• Multiple liver tumors making the patient a BCLC Stage B
• Prior treatment, except for surgical resection, to the lesion being targeted in the protocol.