Optimal outcomes for liver-dominant metastatic breast cancer with transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads loaded with doxorubicin

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of image-guided delivery of locoregional chemotherapy to breast cancer hepatic metastases using doxorubicin-loaded drug-eluting beads (DEBDOX). An IRB-approved multi-center, prospective, open, non-controlled repeat treatment registry to investigate the safety and efficacy of doxorubicin microspheres in the treatment of patients with unresectable liver metastasis from breast cancer was reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed with differences of P < 0.05 considered significant. About 40 patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to the liver underwent a total of 75 image-guided procedures with hepatic arterial drug-eluting beads loaded with doxorubicin (DEBDOX). Treatment was well tolerated with a total of eight patients sustaining 13 adverse events within the 30 days of each treatment session. All adverse events were either a grade I or grade II in toxicity. After a median follow-up of 12 months in all patients, the hepatic progression-free survival was a median of 26 months and overall survival was a median of 47 months. The treatment of hepatic metastasis from MBC using DEBDOX is an effective local therapy with very high response rates and a very safe toxicity profile. In comparison to chemotherapy alone, consideration of hepatic-directed therapy is warranted in patients with liver-dominant metastatic disease.