[The clinical therapeutic effects of arsenic trioxide combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in treating primary liver cancer with pulmonary metastases].

Objective: To observe the therapeutic effects of arsenic trioxide combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization on treatment of primary liver cancer with pulmonary metastases.

Methods: Sixty patients were randomly divided into two groups: group A (treatment group, n = 30) and group B (control group, n = 30). Group A was received periodic transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and 10 mg arsenic trioxide by intravenous infusion for 5 hours per day, 3 days after TACE. Each cycle consisted of 14 days' administration, and repeated after 2 weeks. Each patient was received 3-4 successive cycles. Group B was received periodic TACE alone.

Objective: efficiency, benefit rate, quality of life and the correlates with metastatic tumor size and number in the both groups were recorded.

Results: The objective efficiency was 26.7% (8/30), and the benefit rate was 60.0% (18/30) in group A, while they were 0 and 16.7% (5/30) in group B with significant statistics differences (χ(2) = 7.067, P = 0.008; χ(2) = 11.915, P = 0.001). The quality of life was improved in 4 patients and stable in 18 of group A, while no patient was improved and 13 were stable in group B (χ(2) = 9.669, P = 0.008). There was a significantly positive correlation between the tumor burden and therapeutic effect (Kendall r = -0.765, P < 0.001; Spearman r = -0.821, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Arsenic trioxide combined TACE is an effective treatment method in treating primary liver cancer with pulmonary metastases.