DSA Features of Right Inferior Phrenic Artery as Tumor-feeding Vessel in Advanced Hepatic Cancer

Objective To study DSA features of the right inferior phrenic artery which provides blood supply to the tumor in the patients with advanced hepatic cancer, to improve the clinical results of interventional therapy.Materials and Methods Super-selective right inferior phrenic artery, which acted as one of the tumor-feeding arteries, DSA was performed in 96 patients with advanced hepatic cancer. Interventional embolization was carried out at the same time. The therapeutic effectiveness was observed.Results Of 458 cases with huge hepatic cancer (tumor's diameter 5～15cm), the right inferior phrenic artery which acted as the tumor-feeding artery was found in 96 (20.9%), of which 42 (9.2%) were discovered during the first interventional procedure and 54 (11.8%) during the second or the third interventional procedure. After super-selective embolization of the right inferior phrenic artery, obvious reduction, or even disappearing, of the tumor-feeding microvessels and marked shrinking of the lesion were observed in all cases. The survival rate for 6, 12 and 24 months was 100%, 80.2% and 35.4%, respectively. Conclusion The right inferior phrenic artery is usually one of the main collaterals in advanced hepatic cancer. Knowledge of this artery and proper treatment of tumor-feeding arteries are very important for a successful therapy of advanced hepatic cancer.