{"entity":{"id":"tace","kind":"technology","name":"Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE)","aka":[],"tldr":"A catheter threaded into the artery feeding a liver tumour delivers chemotherapy and then blocks the vessel, starving the tumour from inside.","summary":"Standard of care for intermediate-stage (BCLC B) HCC for four decades (Llovet 2002, Lo 2002). Conventional TACE uses lipiodol-chemotherapy emulsion; DEB-TACE uses drug-eluting beads. Since 2024 three phase 3 trials (EMERALD-1, LEAP-012, EMERALD-3) show that adding systemic immunotherapy and anti-VEGF therapy to TACE prolongs progression-free survival, though overall-survival benefit is unproven (LEAP-012 final OS HR 0.98). Selection matters: TACE-refractory disease should move to systemic therapy.","status":"standard-of-care","asOf":"2026-09-07","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transarterial_chemoembolization","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transarterial_chemoembolization"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["hcc","neuroendocrine"],"sections":["surgery","chemotherapy"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["boston-scientific"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["bclc-staging"],"trials":["nct06844357","nct03812874"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Selective hepatic arterial catheterisation; tumours are ~90% arterially supplied while normal liver is portal-supplied, so embolisation plus chemotherapy hits tumour preferentially.","strengths":["Liver-directed with limited systemic toxicity","Decades of evidence and universal availability","Bridges patients to transplant"],"limitations":["Post-embolisation syndrome; hepatic decompensation in poor liver function","Rarely curative; repeat sessions","OS benefit of combinations with systemic therapy not yet shown"],"since":1980},"route":"/technologies/tace/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"hcc-early","kind":"cancer","name":"Early hepatocellular carcinoma (BCLC 0 and A)","route":"/cancers/hcc-early/"},{"id":"grade-3-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Grade 3 well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumour","route":"/cancers/grade-3-net/"},{"id":"hcc","kind":"cancer","name":"Hepatocellular carcinoma","route":"/cancers/hcc/"},{"id":"hcc-intermediate","kind":"cancer","name":"Intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (BCLC B)","route":"/cancers/hcc-intermediate/"},{"id":"neuroendocrine","kind":"cancer","name":"Neuroendocrine tumours","route":"/cancers/neuroendocrine/"},{"id":"pancreatic-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours","route":"/cancers/pancreatic-net/"},{"id":"small-intestinal-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumours","route":"/cancers/small-intestinal-net/"}],"section":[{"id":"chemotherapy","kind":"section","name":"Chemotherapy","route":"/fronts/chemotherapy/"},{"id":"surgery","kind":"section","name":"Surgery & Interventional","route":"/fronts/surgery/"}],"company":[{"id":"boston-scientific","kind":"company","name":"Boston Scientific","route":"/companies/boston-scientific/"}],"term":[{"id":"bclc-staging","kind":"term","name":"BCLC staging","route":"/terms/bclc-staging/"},{"id":"downstaging","kind":"term","name":"Downstaging and conversion therapy","route":"/terms/downstaging/"},{"id":"liver-directed-therapy","kind":"term","name":"Liver-directed therapy (TACE, TARE, HAI, ablation)","route":"/terms/liver-directed-therapy/"},{"id":"portal-vein-tumour-thrombus","kind":"term","name":"Portal vein tumour thrombus (macrovascular invasion)","route":"/terms/portal-vein-tumour-thrombus/"},{"id":"tace-term","kind":"term","name":"TACE (transarterial chemoembolisation)","route":"/terms/tace-term/"},{"id":"tare","kind":"term","name":"TARE / SIRT (radioembolisation with yttrium-90)","route":"/terms/tare/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct06844357","kind":"trial","name":"A Phase II/III Trial Comparing Transarterial Tirapazamine Embolization (TATE) With cTACE for Intermediate-stage Liver Cancer.","route":"/trials/nct06844357/"},{"id":"nct03812874","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of PTX-9908 Injection for Non-resectable HCC with TACE","route":"/trials/nct03812874/"},{"id":"emerald-1","kind":"trial","name":"EMERALD-1","route":"/trials/emerald-1/"},{"id":"emerald-3","kind":"trial","name":"EMERALD-3","route":"/trials/emerald-3/"},{"id":"leap-012","kind":"trial","name":"LEAP-012","route":"/trials/leap-012/"}],"pairing":[{"id":"tace-plus-systemic","kind":"pairing","name":"TACE + immunotherapy/anti-VEGF","route":"/pairings/tace-plus-systemic/"}],"drug":[{"id":"ethiodized-oil","kind":"drug","name":"Ethiodized oil","route":"/drugs/ethiodized-oil/"}],"technology":[{"id":"percutaneous-hepatic-perfusion","kind":"technology","name":"Percutaneous hepatic perfusion (chemosaturation)","route":"/technologies/percutaneous-hepatic-perfusion/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"surgery-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Surgery roadmap: radical operations → less surgery → no surgery when a drug has done the work","route":"/roadmaps/surgery-roadmap/"}]}}