TRANSCATHETER ARTERIAL EMBOLIZATION OR LIPIODOLIZATION RAISES THE PRODUCTION OF TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR ACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

To investigate the effect of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) or lipiodolization (Lip) on additional tumoricidal activities and the immune system, we studied the serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF) activ ity before and after either TAE or Lip in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). No significant differences in the serum basal TNF ac tivities were observed before TAE or Lip among either the normal contr ols, patients with cirrhosis (LC) or patients with HCC. The serum TNF activities increased in four of 15 patients with HCC after the treatme nt. On the other hand, the TNF production of peripheral blood mononucl ear cells (PBMCs) in five patients with HCC increased from 9.0+/-3.8 U /ml to 18.8+/-8.7 U/ml (P<0.05) after the treatment. It is well known that the anti-tumor effect of TAE or Lip is based mainly on ischemia a nd the effect of anti-cancer drugs. In the present study, the activati on of TNF production by TAE or Lip was also suggested to cause an anti -tumor effect.