Abstract: Objective To study the application value of helical tomotherapy (HT) in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods A total of 92 patients with HCC admitted to our hospital were divided into 2 groups randomly, 46 cases in each group. The observation group was treated with SBRT by HT, while the control group was treated with SBRT by CyberKnife. The serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, bilirubin and albumin were compared pretherapy and 4 weeks after treatment between the 2 groups. The occurrence of adverse reactions and follow-up results were analyzed. Results The total effective rate was 91.30% in the observation group and 93.48% in the control group, with no significant difference (P>0.05). Serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, bilirubin and albumin in the observation group were (53.52 ± 14.85) U/L, (44.96 ± 12.95) U/L, (10.98 ± 3.45) μmol/L and (37.02 ± 3.70) g/L 4 weeks after treatment, (51.78 ± 13.30) U/L, (42.36 ± 11.37) U/L, (10.63 ± 3.37) μmol/L and (37.67 ± 3.85) g/L before treatment, respectively. There was no significant difference in the observation before and after treatment (P>0.05). Serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, bilirubin and albumin in the control group were (54.05±15.47) U/L, (45.67±14.75) U/L, (11.67±3.20) μmol/L and (36.42±4.51) g/L after treatment. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups after treatment (P>0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions and 2-year cumulative survival rate were 21.74% and 78.26% in the observation group, 32.61% and 89.13% in the control group, respectively, with no significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion SBRT applied by HT has similar short-term and long-term efficacy with SBRT applied by CyberKnife, and it is safe.

Key words: Helical tomotherapy, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Stereotactic body radiation therapy