Percutaneous electrochemotherapy in the treatment of portal vein tumor thrombosis at hepatic hilum in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: A feasibility study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis in our series

Patient	Age/sex	PS:E/K	Cirrhosis etiology	Child-Pugh class	AFP (ng/mL)	Albumin (g/100 mL)	INR	Bilirubin (mg)	PLT (n/μL)	EGDS	Comorbidities
										EV, GV, RS
1	64 yr/M	2/70	HCV	A6	14	3.7	1.10	1.20%	75000	F1-EV, GV-, RS-	Diabetes
2	54 yr/M	1/80	HCV	B7	84	3.2	1.40	1.40%	62000	F2-EV, GV+, RS-	Diabetes, MI, COPD
3	85 yr/M	1/80	HCV	A5	32	4.2	1.14	1.20%	125000	F!-EV, GV-, RS-	None
4	75 yr/M	2/70	HCV	A6	65	3.6	1.32	1.00%	88000	F2-EV, GV-, RS-	Thyroid carcinoma, COPD
5	61 yr/F	0/100	HCV	A5	47	4.0	1.25	0.90%	74000	EV-, GV-, RS-	Diabetes, hypertension
6	77 yr/M	2/70	HCV	B7	16	3.5	1.55	1.30%	56000	F1-EV, GV-, RS-	Diabetes

PS E/K: Performance Status ECOG/Karnoffsky; AFP: Pre-treatment alphafetoprotein; INR: International normalized ratio; PLT: Platelets; EGDS: Esophagastroduodenoscopy; EV, GV, RS: Esophagealvarices, gastric varices, red spots.

Table 2 Hepatocellular carcinoma patterns, treatments and results in 6 patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis treated with electrochemotherapy

Patient	Previous treatments	Site of PVTT	HCC nodules/size	Results of ECT	Follow-up
1	Surgery, RFA	Right PV, distal main PV	-	Complete necrosis of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT	20 mo
				Complete recanalization
2	None	Right PV, distal main PV	1 nodule/3.5 cm	Complete necrosis of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT	Death for rupture of esophageal varices 14 mo after ECT
				Complete recanalization
3	None	Right PV	1 nodule/3 cm	Complete necrosis of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT	Death for Liver failure
				Persistent shrinked bland thrombosis	14 mo after ECT
4	RFA	RightPV, left PV, distal main PV	2 nodules/1.5 and 2.5 cm	Complete necrosis of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT	Death 5 wk after ECT for rupture of esophageal varices
				Persistent shrinked bland thrombosis
5	None	Left PV	1 nodule/3.5 cm	Complete necrosis of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT	12 mo
				Persistent shrinked bland thrombosis
6	Surgery, RFA, TACE	Right PV	-	Complete necrosis of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT	9 mo
				Persistent shrinked bland thrombosis

ECT: Electrochemotherapy; PV: Portal vein; PVTT: Portal vein tumor thrombosis; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; TACE: Trans-arterial chemoembolization; MI: Myocardial infarction; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.