Your Donations in Action: Ibukun Ibrahim, BS

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for more than 75% of primary liver cancers. Because curative treatment options are often unavailable or not feasible, management frequently relies on palliative or symptomatic treatment.

Locoregional therapies, including transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or transarterial radioembolization (TARE), are widely used for patients with early- or intermediate-stage disease. Microwave ablation (MWA), which can be curative for small HCC tumors up to three centimeters, is often combined with TACE to improve outcomes.

For his 2024 RSNA Medical Student Research Grant, “Outcomes of Combined TACE and Thermal Ablation vs Radioembolization for Early-Stage HCC: A Propensity Matched Retrospective Analysis,” Ibukun Ibrahim, BS, a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, led a retrospective study to compare the long-term outcomes of TARE and combined TACE/MWA in HCC patients.

Researchers analyzed outcomes for 117 patients, including 89 who underwent TARE and 28 who received combined TACE/MWA. They found no significant difference in progression-free survival or overall survival between the two approaches, suggesting comparable effectiveness for patients with unresectable HCC eligible for locoregional therapy.

The study also examined non-clinical factors influencing treatment selection, with insurance status emerging as the strongest influence. Patients with private insurance accounted for 20% of the TARE group, compared with none of the those treated with combined TACE/MWA. Differences were also observed across racial and ethnic groups, highlighting potential disparities in access to advanced oncologic therapies.

According to Ibrahim, the findings offer meaningful guidance for clinicians. “The comparable overall and progression-free survival of both methods provides practical flexibility in treatment decision-making,” he said. “Clinicians can base decisions on patient-specific factors rather than on the perceived superiority of one modality, improving shared decision-making conversations.”

Ibrahim emphasized the meaningful impact of the R&E Foundation on his career.

“This grant was immensely helpful in my academic pursuit and career trajectory,” Ibrahim said. “It further cemented my interests in studying outcomes between patients based on treatment received, and we also plan to conduct a secondary analysis examining the impact of socioeconomics on outcomes.”

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Read our previous Your Donations in Action story.