Yuan HF, Kuang DL, Jiao DC, Bi YH. Three kinds of drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolisation for treating patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer. World J Clin Oncol 2026; 17(4): 118070 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i4.118070]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yong-Hua Bi, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, No. 1 Jianshe East Road, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China. 274233911@qq.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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World J Clin Oncol. Apr 24, 2026; 17(4): 118070 Published online Apr 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i4.118070
Three kinds of drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolisation for treating patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer
Hui-Feng Yuan, Dong-Lin Kuang, De-Chao Jiao, Yong-Hua Bi
Hui-Feng Yuan, Dong-Lin Kuang, De-Chao Jiao, Yong-Hua Bi, Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
Dong-Lin Kuang, De-Chao Jiao, Yong-Hua Bi, Minimally Invasive Interventional Ward, Henan Hospital of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Yuan HF, Kuang DL and Bi YH participated in the conception and design of the study and were involved in the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; Yuan HF, Kuang DL and Jiao DC wrote the manuscript; Bi YH, Yuan HF and Jiao DC accessed and verified the study data; Bi YH revised the manuscript; all authors critically reviewed and provided final approval of the manuscript; all authors were responsible for the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Institutional review board statement: This investigation was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (No. 2023-KY-1002-002).
Informed consent statement: The need for patient consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement:
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Corresponding author: Yong-Hua Bi, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, No. 1 Jianshe East Road, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China. 274233911@qq.com
Received: December 23, 2025 Revised: January 25, 2026 Accepted: March 5, 2026 Published online: April 24, 2026 Processing time: 119 Days and 20.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
There have been no comparative studies on doxorubicin (DOX), oxaliplatin (OXA) and gemcitabine (GEM) drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolisation (DEB-TACE) in treating patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
AIM
To compare the efficacy and safety of different loading drugs in the treatment of these patients.
METHODS
A total of 123 patients with unresectable NSCLC were enrolled, including the DOX-eluting DEB-TACE group (DOX group, n = 47), OXA-eluting DEB-TACE group (OXA group, n = 29) and GEM-eluting DEB-TACE (GEM group, n = 47). Treatment response, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and adverse events were evaluated.
RESULTS
The 1- and 3-month tumor response showed no significant change among the three groups. Both the 6-month objective response rate and disease control rate showed highest trends in the OXA group [objective response rate (ORR): 33.3%/disease control rate (DCR): 57.1%], followed by the GEM (ORR: 17.1%/DCR: 42.9%) and DOX groups (ORR: 17.6%/DCR: 41.2%), although not statistically significant (ORR: P = 0.29/DCR: P = 0.47). Both OS and PFS were highest in the OXA group [OS: 29.6 months, interquartile range (IQR): 4.6-18.5 months/PFS: 9.9 months, IQR: 2.5-13.4 months]. The OXA group exhibited prolonged PFS and increased OS compared with the DOX group (P = 0.10, χ2 = 2.720, P = 0.03, χ2 = 4.806) and GEM groups (P = 0.30, χ2 = 1.095, P = 0.08, χ2 = 3.165). The incidence rates of adverse events were comparable between the DOX and OXA groups but were lower in the GEM group; however, no statistical significance was observed (P = 0.63), and all adverse events were tolerable in the three groups.
CONCLUSION
DOX, OXA and GEM eluting DEB-TACE may be an effective and safe treatment approach for unresectable NSCLC, with patients in the OXA group potentially exhibiting a prolonged OS. Randomized controlled trials are required to further clarify the efficacy of different drug-eluting DEB-TACE in unresectable NSCLC.
Core Tip: This is a retrospective study to investigate the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of doxorubicin (DOX), oxaliplatin (OXA) and gemcitabine (GEM) drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolisation (DEB-TACE) in treating patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study indicates that DOX, OXA and GEM-eluting DEB-TACE may be an effective and safe treatment approach for unresectable NSCLC, with patients in the OXA group potentially exhibiting a prolonged overall survival.
