Efficiency of Transarterial Chemoembolization with Drug-Eluting Microspheres in the Treatment of Metastatic and Primary Liver Tumors

Background: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is coming into use in the treatment of liver tumors, with drug-eluting microspheres as one of the technique variations. However, at the moment there are no systematic studies that would answer the questions: what is the role of the method in the treatment regimen for patients with primary and metastatic liver tumor and at what stage should it be used? Aim: to evaluate the effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting microspheres for the treatment of metastatic and primary malignant liver tumors at different stages of the disease. Methods: We performed а retrospective observational uncontrolled study of 65 patients with liver metastases (Group 1), and 10 patients with primary malignant liver tumors (Group 2), who underwent 102 operations of transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting microspheres. To plan transarterial chemoembolization and evaluate its effectiveness, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used every 89 weeks during the treatment. Results: After two transarterial chemoembolization controls, Group 1 included 51 responders (79%) and 14 non-responders (21%). Among the responders by the 16th week there was a decrease in the volume of the tumor mass in the liver from 12.4 [4.7; 24.6] to 5.2 cm3 [2; 15.5] for colorectal cancer, from 26 [18; 35] to 19 cm3 [13; 25] for neuroendocrine cancer, from 12 [4; 20] to 4 cm3 [0.6; 9] for adenocarcinomas of different localizations. There was no progression in Group 2, while, by week 16, there was a decrease in the tumor volume from 142 [51; 206] to 68 cm3 [23; 185] for hepatocellular carcinoma, from 465 [330; 600] to 187 cm3 [137;237] for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. With repeated transarterial chemoembolization, a decrease in the volume of the tumor mass was also noted, while the time without progression decreased from 303 [170; 369] to 180 [105; 225] days in Group 1, from 266 [200; 367] to 120 [62; 215] days in Group 2. Conclusions: Transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting microspheres is an effective treatment for primary and metastatic liver tumors. It should be considered as a palliative therapy, which allows achieving a good antitumor response at different stages of cancer

Asymptomatic cholelithiasis in bariatric practice

Background: The need for simultaneous cholecystectomy for asymptomatic cholelithiasis in patients undergoing bariatric intervention has not been proven. The experience of managing patients with obesity and concomitant disease cholelithiasis is presented. Aim: to determine the indications for simultaneous cholecystectomy and bariatric surgery in the combination of morbid obesity and a asymptomatic cholelithiasis. Methods: The results of observation of 37 patients with initially asymptomatic cholelithiasis were analyzed: 27 patients underwent bariatric surgery and simultaneous cholecystectomy, and 10 patients underwent only bariatric surgery. The immediate and long-term results of the treatment, the quality of life of patients and the cost of the treatment were assessed. Results: During 12 months of the follow-up, none of the patients who underwent simultaneous cholecystectomy developed any complications. Of the 10 patients in the observation group, 3 were operated on. Two patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis and one patient was operated on for choledocholithiasis with obstructive jaundice. The greatest improvement in the quality of life was observed in the gastric bypass group with simultaneous cholecystectomy. The treatment cost per patient was lower in that group, too. Conclusion: In the presence of asymptomatic cholelithiasis in a patient with morbid obesity, bariatric intervention and simultaneous cholecystectomy prevents the development of complications of cholelithiasis and thereby potentially improves the quality of life and reduces the cost of medical care

Evaluation of the effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization irinotecan-loaded with drug-saturable microspheres for the treatment of patients with neuroendocrine tumors with liver metastases

Background: Since 2021, transarterial chemoembolization of the hepatic arteries (TACE) has been included in the recommendations of professional communities for the treatment of metastases of neuroendocrine liver tumors (NEO). However, the heterogeneity of both this group of patients and types of chemoembolization with a limited range of cytostatics used in the treatment makes it difficult to analyze the data and introduce the method into the combination therapy regimens. Aim: to study the effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization with irinotecan-loaded drug-saturable microspheres for the treatment of patients with neuroendocrine tumors with liver metastases. Methods: A retrospective, observational, uncontrolled study of 34 patients with liver metastases from neuroendocrine cancer who underwent 52 TACE with irinotecan-loaded drug-saturable microspheres. Group 1 consisted of 15 patients who already had liver metastases at the time of the primary focus detection, group 2 included 19 patients with liver metastases having appeared some time after the detection of the primary focus. To plan and evaluate the effectiveness of chemoembolization, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used every 1015 weeks during the systemic treatment. All the patients received systemic NEO therapy before and after the embolization. Results: An increase in the progression-free time from 101 [57; 120] and 145 [89; 263] days after chemotherapy up to 300 [134; 344] and 304 [240; 342] days after TACE in groups 1 and 2, respectively, with no difference between the groups (p=0.31 and p=0.57, respectively). We did not find a linear relationship between the doubling time of the tumor and the change in the volume of the tumor lesion (R2=0.1085 and R2=0.0265 in groups 1 and 2). When comparing the intragroup scores, there was a statistically significant difference (p=0.009, p=0.046) in the tumor volume reduction and progression-free time between the patients who underwent TACE immediately and those who underwent TACE after chemotherapy. The diagnostic and angiographic images of liver metastases varied within the same organ and depended on the size of metastases. There were no adverse events after TACE. Conclusions: TACE with irinotecan-loaded drug-saturable microspheres is an effective method for the treatment of liver metastases of neuroendocrine cancer, allowing one to increase the time without progression

Digital diaphanoscopy of maxillary sinus pathologies supported by machine learning

Maxillary sinus pathologies remain among the most common ENT diseases requiring timely diagnosis for successful treatment. Standard ENT inspection approaches indicate low sensitivity in detecting maxillary sinus pathologies. In this paper, we report on capabilities of digital diaphanoscopy combined with machine learning tools in the detection of such pathologies. We provide a comparative analysis of two machine learning approaches applied to digital diapahnoscopy data, namely, convolutional neural networks and linear discriminant analysis. The sensitivity and specificity values obtained for both employed approaches exceed the reported accuracy indicators for traditional screening diagnosis methods (such as nasal endoscopy or ultrasound), suggesting the prospects of their usage for screening maxillary sinuses alterations. The analysis of the obtained values showed that the linear discriminant analysis, being a simpler approach as compared to neural networks, allows one to detect the maxillary sinus pathologies with the sensitivity and specificity of 0.88 and 0.98, respectively