Interventional tumor treatment methods

Lung cancer is one of the most dangerous malignant tumors to human health and life in the world today, and its clinical incidence has increased significantly in recent years. The first choice of treatment for lung cancer is surgical treatment, but since patients are mostly in the middle and late stages when diagnosed, they have lost the opportunity of radical resection. For unresectable middle and late stage lung cancer, although traditional radiotherapy and chemotherapy have made some progress, the efficiency of treatment is still low. In recent years, due to the development of interventional therapy, interventional therapy is more and more widely used in clinical practice because of its precise efficacy, less invasive, reproducible and safer features, which can improve the survival rate and quality of life of patients. The blood supply of lung cancer is the basis of endovascular interventional treatment. The issue of blood supply to lung cancer is still inconclusive, and the debate is whether the pulmonary artery is involved in blood supply in addition to the bronchial artery, blood supply to lung cancer. Most scholars [1] believe that primary lung cancer originates from the bronchial mucosa epithelium and is mainly supplied by the bronchial artery, but may also be supplied by branches of the body circulation such as the intercostal artery, subclavian artery, internal mammary artery, thyroid neck trunk, pericardial diaphragmatic artery and inferior diaphragmatic artery, and the pulmonary artery is generally not involved in blood supply. Bronchial artery infusion chemotherapy (BAI) is the earliest and most widely used method in clinical practice. Experimental results show that the drug concentration in the target organ during arterial infusion is 2-6 times higher than that of intravenous administration, and the drugs entering the bloodstream with blood circulation can enter the tumor again, forming a secondary chemotherapy for the tumor, so BAI is both local chemotherapy and systemic chemotherapy [2]. BAI is divided into one-time shock therapy and continuous infusion chemotherapy. For one-time shock, the femoral artery is punctured by Seldinger, and the 5F cobra or left gastric catheter is used to super-select the bronchial artery supplied by the tumor under DSA surveillance, and then DSA imaging is performed to determine the target artery supplied by the tumor, and the diluted antitumor drug is slowly pushed in with the fixed catheter and the target artery, and the catheter is withdrawn after the perfusion. Continuous perfusion chemotherapy is mostly administered by percutaneous arterial catheter cartridge system (PCS) implantation and perfusion chemotherapy via the cartridge artery, because the bronchial artery is slender, it is more difficult to leave the catheter in place, so the clinical practice mostly adopts one-time impact chemotherapy, and PCS is less used in clinical practice. Chemotherapeutic drugs are selected according to the histological type of tumor, and the principle of multi-drug combination is adopted. The principle of bronchial artery chemoembolization (BAE) is that because BAI is a shock therapy, the drug action time is relatively short and the drug concentration is reduced due to blood flow shock, and the blood supply of lung cancer is blocked by embolization, while the chemotherapeutic drugs are in contact with the tumor for a longer time, which causes ischemic necrosis of tumor cells to a greater extent [3]. The materials of embolization vary, and the commonly used clinical embolization agents include gelatin sponge, PVA granulated silk thread segment, iodine oil, etc. The effect of BAI or BAE treatment, due to various reasons such as differences in case selection, different chemotherapeutic drugs and dosage, pathological types of tumors and the number of interventions and the operating ability of interventional personnel, has been reported differently. Shi Jiaohua [4] and other 76 cases of BAI had 13 cases of mass shrinkage and 39 cases of mass shrinkage of different degrees after surgery, with a remission rate of 68.4% and an effective rate of 84.2%. This indicates that BAI can exactly shrink the mass in the diagnosis and treatment of intermediate and advanced central lung cancer. Thus, it can improve the clinical symptoms of patients with significant efficacy and has high clinical application value. Qiu Chunli [5] et al. used BAE for the treatment of intermediate and advanced lung cancer and achieved better efficacy than single chemotherapy treatment modality. Because of the thin bronchial arteries, the tumor forms small collateral blood supply arteries after embolization, and some patients’ bronchial arteries are occluded after embolization, thus making it more difficult to treat again in the future and leading to a reduction in the number of treatments, there are different views on whether embolization therapy must be performed. Most scholars believe that embolization therapy can enhance the therapeutic effect of BAI. However, a retrospective analysis of 572 patients with lung cancer treated with interventional therapy by Cheng Zhuzhong [6] suggested that the long-term outcome of BAE cases was worse than that of patients in the BAI group. However, in patients with lung cancer with hemoptysis, embolization is very beneficial. The most serious complication of BAI and BAE is spinal artery embolization leading to spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia, with an incidence of 2% to 5%. The possible reasons for its occurrence [8] are: (i) the entry of hypertonic contrast agents or chemotherapeutic drugs into the spinal cord; (ii) the embolization of bronchial arteries, which mistakenly embolizes the anterior spinal artery emanating from the bronchial artery. Therefore, before treatment, we should carefully analyze the angiogram, inject appropriate amount of lidocaine through catheter if necessary, and make it clear that the bronchial artery and spinal cord artery have no co-intervention before perfusion chemotherapy and embolization are feasible. 2. Radiofrequency ablation therapy (RFA) for lung cancer The principle of RFA for tumor treatment is to introduce high-frequency current through electrodes and use high-frequency oscillating current to make ions in tissues vibrate with the direction of current change and collide with each other. The heat generated will cause the tumor to reach a high temperature of 75~95℃, which will denature the protein of tumor cells, thus killing the tumor cells quickly and effectively, and causing the vascular tissues around the tumor to coagulate and form a reaction zone, so that they cannot continue to supply blood to the tumor to prevent the tumor from metastasis. At the same time, the thermal effect of RF ablation can enhance the immune ability of the body, which can inhibit the growth of the residual primary tumor tissue [9]. Since the current density of lung cancer tissues is higher than that of alveolar tissues, the heat production effect is high, and the normal lung tissues prevent heat conduction, forming a certain “insulation effect”, so that heat can easily accumulate in the tumor, and the normal tissues are less damaged when RFA treats lung cancer, so RFA is suitable for local treatment of lung cancer [10]. CT is mostly used as the guiding device for RFA of lung cancer in clinical practice. The location and extent of the tumor are determined by scanning before treatment, the puncture point is determined by body surface markings, and the appropriate puncture path is selected. The RFA electrode needle should be inserted along the upper edge of the ribs to avoid damaging the intercostal nerves and arteries; the mass should be punctured according to the measured needle direction and depth, and ablation treatment should be performed when the needle tip reaches the predetermined position on repeat CT scan. The complications of RFA for lung cancer are mainly pneumothorax, bleeding and postoperative pain, lung infection, cough and hemoptysis. The efficacy of RFA for lung cancer is not related to the histological type, but to the diameter, location, number and morphology of the tumor [11]. In general, the treatment effect of smaller diameter tumors is significantly better than that of larger diameter tumors. rose [12] et al. concluded that RF ablation treatment was effective in lung cancer patients with tumor diameter less than 3 cm, stage I or limited metastasis. lanuti [13] et al. reported 31 patients with intrapulmonary tumor diameter of (2.0±1.0) cm (0.8-4.4) cm, who were treated with RF ablation, After radiofrequency ablation treatment, the tumors largely disappeared, and the 2-year and 4-year survival rates were 78% and 47%, respectively. For tumor diameter > 5 cm, multi-target ablation was performed by adjusting the position of radiofrequency electrode needle in stages, and for tumor invasion into the pleura, subpleural area was ablated at the outer edge of the lesion at the same time. The effect of peripheral type lung cancer is better than that of central type lung cancer. The reasons may be as follows: 1. As the central type lung cancer is close to the large blood vessels, the operator takes more risks when puncturing, and from the safety point of view, the depth of RF needle penetration is often not deep enough, resulting in incomplete ablation; while the peripheral type, especially the isolated tumor, has less treatment risks and can often achieve satisfactory puncture effect. 2. When the lesion is close to the large blood vessels in the hilum, due to the large blood flow, the local heat is carried away by the blood flow per unit time and is less likely to accumulate. When the lesion is close to the large blood vessels of the lung gate, the local heat is carried away by the blood flow and not easily gathered per unit time (“heat sink effect”), which leads to the impaired ablation effect; while the ablation effect of peripheral lung cancer is obviously improved because the lung tissues can get enough heat due to the obvious insulation effect of the lung tissues. For lesions with irregular morphology, the ablation scope cannot cover all levels, which may cause residual lesions. RFA can be used in the treatment of lung cancer, and it can improve the survival rate and efficiency to a greater extent when combined with other treatments. Sun Houbin [14] et al. used RFA alone to treat lung cancer, which resulted in 0 cases of complete remission (CR), 13 cases of partial remission (PR), 1 case of stable (SD) and 1 case of progressive (PD), with a treatment efficiency of 86.6%. Sun I [15] et al. applied RF ablation combined with bronchial artery infusion chemotherapy to 32 cases of advanced non-small cell lung cancer, and the survival rates at 6, 12 and 24 months of follow-up were 93.8%, 75% and 9.4%, respectively. RFA has shown good clinical efficacy for lung cancer and improved the quality of patients’ survival, with high survival rates in the near and medium term, but there is no uniform opinion on whether it can improve the long-term survival of patients. However, there is no uniform opinion on whether it can improve long-term survival. Radioactive particle implantation is one of the new techniques developed in the past 20 years. It is a new technique developed in the last 20 years. Most of the implantation is done locally with 125I particles. 125I particle brachytherapy refers to the implantation of miniature radiation source into the tumor or tumor infiltrated tissues, and continuous low-energy γ-rays, so that the tumor is continuously irradiated and the tumor tissue suffers the maximum destructive damage, due to its low energy and short range (only 1.7cm), the penetrating power is weak, and the radiation dose to the normal tissues outside the tumor tissue is sharply reduced, and the radiation damage is smaller. In addition, the proliferation rate of surrounding tissue cells is significantly lower than that of tumor cells, and the sensitivity to radiation is low, so it can effectively kill tumors with less radiological damage to normal tissues [16]. The source of TPS data depends on the precise localization of the tumor target area in the imaging examination. The information provided by the imaging on the tumor size, morphology and margin will determine the number and location of implanted particles, which in turn will affect the outcome of treatment. During treatment, CT machine is applied to scan the tumor area of the patient’s lung, set the best puncture point and needle inlet direction; 14G puncture needle is mostly used, review the CT scan to further determine the position of the puncture needle, adjust the head end of the puncture needle to be in the appropriate position, implant the radioactive 125I particles from the particle gun into the tumor via the implantation needle with a probe, continuously adjust the direction and position of the implantation needle, and implant the 125I particles into the tumor according to the The direction and position of the implantation needle were adjusted continuously to implant the 125I particles evenly into the tumor according to the TPS plan. The selection of the puncture site is often limited due to the obstruction of the rib cage and the influence of lung respiratory movement, so it is difficult to precisely distribute the particles according to the TPS design, and there is a gap between the actual implanted particles and the ideal distribution pattern. The actual particle implantation pattern is somewhat different from the ideal one. For patients with lung cancer with to stenosis, 125I particle stent implantation can be used to address the symptoms of airway obstruction and to better treat the primary focus. Zhao Limin [18] used 125I particle self-expanding nitinol airway stent to treat malignant central airway stenosis, and there was no significant difference in postoperative complications between the two compared with the non-particle bearing nitinol airway stent, and the average survival was significantly longer in the 125I particle stent placement group than the non-particle bearing nitinol airway stent. stents. Most scholars believe that the combination of particles with other comprehensive treatments can improve the treatment effect and prolong survival. Liu Rui Bao [19] used 125I particle implantation combined with arterial perfusion chemotherapy group survival was significantly higher than that of 125I particle implantation alone.4. Other treatments Other treatments include local injection therapy, cryotherapy, gene therapy and so on. Local injection therapy is to puncture the mass and inject drugs directly into the tumor under the guidance of x-ray, B-ultrasound, CT, etc., in order to cause tissue coagulation and necrosis and kill tumor cells. Commonly used drugs are anhydrous alcohol, chemotherapy drugs, iodine oil, hot saline, acetic acid, etc. Cryotherapy (e.g. argon helium knife) is used to rapidly cool and destroy tumor cells, and then warming up again to make cell necrosis more perfect. Gene therapy for lung cancer mainly includes cytokine gene therapy, oncogene therapy; destination gene therapy, suicide gene therapy [20], etc. The treatment can be completed by tumor intra-tumor injection, transcatheter chemotherapy with apoptosis, transcatheter intravascular local perfusion, etc. The therapeutic effects need to be further studied. Since interventional therapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are all effective treatments for lung cancer, and each of these interventional treatments has its own advantages and disadvantages, they cannot replace radiotherapy and chemotherapy, so the clinical treatment of lung cancer can be combined with multiple treatment methods. Therefore, the clinical treatment of lung cancer can be combined with multiple therapies. Further research is needed on how to reasonably use various therapies and reasonably select the reasonable interventional treatment.