Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Predicting Treatment Response in Patients With Liver Cancer Receiving Transarterial Chemoembolization With Drug Eluting Beads

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Evaluate if contrast-enhanced ultrasound of hepatocellular carcinomas at one to two weeks and one month correlate with the clinical evaluation standard of a contrast-enhanced MRI at one month (the current clinical standard) in patients who have undergone transarterial chemoembolization with drug eluting beads.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Establish whether changes in quantitative blood flow parameters relative to baseline correlate with effective embolization.

Inclusion criteria

• Be scheduled for a transarterial chemoembolization using drug eluting beads for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma
• Be medically stable
• If a female of child-bearing potential, must have a negative pregnancy test
• Have signed Informed Consent to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

• Females who are pregnant or nursing
• Patients who are medically unstable, patients who are seriously or terminally ill, and patients whose clinical course is unpredictable; for example:

• Patients on life support or in a critical care unit
• Patients with unstable occlusive disease (eg, crescendo angina)
• Patients with clinically unstable cardiac arrhythmias, such as recurrent ventricular tachycardia
• Patients with uncontrolled congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association [NYHA] class IV)
• Patients with recent cerebral hemorrhage
• Patients with clinically significant and unstable renal disease (eg, transplant recipients in rejection)
• Patients who have undergone surgery within 24 hours prior to the study sonographic examination
• Patients with known hypersensitivity to perflutren
• Patients who have received any contrast medium (x-ray, MRI, computed tomography [CT], or ultrasound [US]) in the 24 hours prior to the research US exam
• Patients with cardiac shunts
• Patients with congenital heart defects
• Patients with severe emphysema, pulmonary vasculitis, or a history of pulmonary emboli
• Patients with respiratory distress syndrome