Dexamethasone and N-acetylcysteine before transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma: A Western perspective

Table 1 Randomized trials evaluating dexamethasone and/or N-Acetylcysteine in the prevention of post-embolization syndrome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Country	Number of patients	Chemoterapy drug employed	Prophylactic strategy	PES incidence in the active arm, %	PES incidence in the placebo arm, %	Follow-up duration (days)	Ref.
China	60	5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and hydroxy-camptothecin	DEXA 27 mg (oral)	20-40	70-80	7	[7]
Korea	88	Doxorubicin	DEXA 12 mg (i.v.)	78	97.5	2	[8]
Japan	120	Miriplatin	DEXA 36 mg (i.v.)	52.5	89.8	5	[9]
Thailand	100	Doxorubicin or mitomycin-c	DEXA 8 mg (i.v.)	36.7	70.6	2	[10]
Thailand	111	5-fluorouracil and mitomycin	NAC (i.v.)	24.6	48.2	2	[14]
Thailand	100	mitomycin	DEXA 36 mg (i.v.) plus NAC (i.v.)	6	80	2	[15]

DEXA: Dexamethasone; NAC: N-Acetylcysteine; PES: Post-embolization syndrome; i.v.: Intravenous.