Local Arterial Infusion of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Particles in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Feasibility and 3.0 T MRI Study

OBJECTIVES:We sought to prove feasibility of selective arterial infusion of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) particles in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS:We studied 13 patients with HCC who underwent modified transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Six patients received concurrent infusion of Ferucarbotran (Resovist, Schering, Berlin, Germany) in tumor-feeding arteries, and another 6 received MFL AS (MagForce, Nanotechnologies, Berlin, Germany). The iron content of both dispersions was 3.92 mg. One patient served as a control. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as baseline and immediate follow-up investigation. RESULTS:Selective arterial infusion of both SPIO particles resulted in significant intratumoral signal intensity decrease on T1-weighted sequences (P < 0.0001), which was greater after MagForce infusion compared with Resovist (P = 0.002). Only minimal amounts of dispersed particles were found in adjacent normal liver parenchyma. No change in intratumoral signal intensity was noted when ferromagnetic particles were omitted. CONCLUSIONS:Modified TACE with selective arterial infusion of SPIO particles can be used for precise tumor targeting in patients with HCC, for which MagForce appeared superior to Resovist.