1. Breast Cancer Slideshow Pictures
2. Pancreatic Cancer Slideshow Pictures
3. Skin Cancer Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Tse-Ling Fong, MD

Tse-Ling Fong, MD

Dr. Fong is the Medical Director of the USC Liver Transplant Program and Associate Professor of Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Southern California and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and the subspecialty of Gastroenterology.

View Full Profile

Medical Reviewer:

Jay W. Marks, MD

Jay W. Marks, MD

Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

View Full Profile

In this Article

• Why is the chemotherapy injected into the hepatic artery?
• What are the side effects and benefits of arterial chemotherapy infusion?
• Just how is arterial chemotherapy infusion done?
• What happens to the patient after this procedure is done?
• How does chemoembolization differ from arterial chemotherapy infusion?
• How does chemoembolization compare with arterial chemotherapy infusion?
• What about mixing the chemotherapy with lipiodol?
• What are the benefits of TACE?
• Find a local Oncologist in your town
• Chemo Infusion and Chemoembolization of Liver Index

What happens to the patient after this procedure is done?

The patient generally stays in the hospital overnight for observation. A sandbag is placed over the groin to compress the area where the catheter was inserted into the femoral artery. The nurses periodically check for signs of bleeding from the femoral artery puncture. They also check for the pulse in the foot on the side of the catheter insertion to be sure that the femoral artery is not blocked as a result of the procedure. (Blockage would be signaled by the absence of a pulse.)

Generally, the liver tests increase (get worse) during the two to three days after the procedure. This worsening of the liver tests is actually due to death of the tumor (and some non-tumor) cells. The patient may experience some post-procedure abdominal pain and low-grade fever. However, severe abdominal pain and vomiting suggest that a more serious complication has developed. Imaging studies of the liver are repeated in six to 12 weeks to assess the size of the tumor in response to the treatment.

Chemoembolization of the Liver (Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization or TACE)

How does chemoembolization differ from arterial chemotherapy infusion?

Both techniques takes advantage of the fact that liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) is a very vascular (contains many blood vessels) tumor and gets its blood supply exclusively from the branches of the hepatic artery. Chemoembolization (TACE) is similar to intra-arterial infusion of chemotherapy. But in TACE, there is the additional step of blocking (embolizing) the small blood vessels with different types of compounds, such as gelfoam or even small metal coils.