Palliative external beam radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with right atrial tumor thrombus

We describe a case of a patient with a symptomatic HCC RA tumor thrombus who achieved a durable and effective symptomatic response to palliative radiotherapy. We also report our institution’s experience treating 10 HCC patients with RA tumor thrombus with palliative radiotherapy to a median biological effective dose (α/β = 10) of 50.6 Gy (range, 29.3-71.2 Gy). Median follow-up was 5 months. Palliative radiotherapy was well-tolerated, with no grade ≥ 3 acute toxicities. Only one patient experienced in-field progression. Seven patients were alive at least 3 months following radiotherapy, and median overall survival was 5 months (range, 3-15 months). This unique series suggests HCC RA tumor thrombus-directed radiotherapy may offer safe palliation and can be considered to improve patients’ quality of life.
Source: Practical Radiation Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research