Abstract: Objective To explore the value of cone beam computed tomography (DynaCT) in transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy for patients with primary or metastatic liver cancers. Methods One hundred and fifty-three patients with primary or metastatic liver cancers that received TACE surgery were studied. All patients were examined by spiral CT before operation, and DynaCT and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) during operation. The detection rates of common spiral computed tomography (CT), DSA and DynaCT for the focus of cancers, and the detection rates of DSA and DynaCT on the blood supply arterys of the focus of cancers was compared. The consistency between DSA and DynaCT in evaluating TACE embolization efficacy and actual embolization efficacy was analyzed. Results One hundred and fifty-eight tumor lesions were detected before operation, while 264 lesions were detected during DSA, and 427 lesions were detected during DynaCT. The average number of lesions detected by general spiral CT was significantly lower than that by DSA and DynaCT (P<0.001), and the average number of lesions detected by DSA was significantly lower than that by DynaCT (P<0.001). The detection rate of DSA for the arteries supplying the lesions was 56.44%, which was significantly lower than 87.12% of DynaCT (P<0.001). DynaCT performed embolization on 427 lesions, and 408 lesions (95.55%) were consistent with the actual embolization effect; DSA was used to evaluate the embolization effect of 264 lesions, and 205 lesions (77.65%) were consistent with the actual embolization effect. The consistency between the efficacy of TACE embolization evaluated by DSA and the efficacy of actual embolization was significantly lower than that of DynaCT (P<0.001). Conclusion DynaCT has important clinical application value in TACE therapy for liver cancers.

Key words: Cone beam computed tomography, Liver cancer, Transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization