I-125 Seeds Loaded Stent Insertion for Inoperable Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma

Malignant biliary obstruction usually arise in patients suffering from primary or metastatic hepatobiliary tumors. Approximately 80% of malignant biliary obstruction patients are not eligible for surgical resection, and as such palliative interventions are the only treatment option available for most patients. Of the available palliative treatments, percutaneous or endoscopic stent insertion is the most frequently used to treat malignant biliary obstruction patients.

Although stent insertion can achieve the good short-term outcomes for patients with malignant biliary obstruction, stent dysfunction remains a common outcome in these treated patients, limiting the long-term efficacy of this treatment strategy. In order to overcome this shortcoming of the normal stent insertion, many researchers have developed a novel biliary I-125 seeds loaded stent. The I-125 seeds loaded stents not only can effectively relieve the jaundice, but also can provide the brachytherapy to the tumor. Previous meta-analyses also indicated that showed that relative to normal stent insertion, I-125 seeds loaded stent insertion was associated with longer survival and stent patency in inoperable malignant biliary obstruction patients. However, most previous studies included malignant biliary obstruction patients with different cancer types and malignant biliary obstruction sites, and therefore, the risk of bias did exist. Therefore, there is a clear need for a study comparing these two stent types in patients with a single type of cancer.

Hilar malignant biliary obstruction is an important part of malignant biliary obstruction. Hilar cholangiocarcinoma is the most common disease which causes hilar malignant biliary obstruction. Herein, we assessed the clinical and long-term efficacy of I-125 seeds loaded stent insertion for hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients.