Hepatic artery embolization

Hepatic artery embolization, also called trans-arterial embolization, is an interventional radiology procedure developed in the early 1970s to treat primary liver tumors and cancers that have spread to the liver. A physician threads a thin catheter into the hepatic artery under radiological guidance and injects material such as plastic particles, coils, glue, or foam to block blood flow to the tumor; because liver tumors draw nearly all their blood supply from the hepatic artery while healthy liver tissue draws most of its supply from the portal vein, the procedure starves the tumor while the liver itself survives. The technique is used against primary liver cancers, metastatic neuroendocrine tumors, and other liver metastases, and can reduce a tumor's hormone output as well as its size, with clinical data showing significant tumor shrinkage in more than 80 percent of treated patients.