Reactivation of intraabdominal tuberculous lymphadenopathy after drug-eluting beads transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma

Owing to effective treatments and sanitary improvements, the incidence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) has decreased. However, approximately one-quarter of the world’s population is thought to have LTBI, and the reactivation of tuberculosis (TB) sometimes occurs in immunocompromised hosts. A 54-year-old man presented with a fever. The patient had past histories of alcoholic and hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). He was treated with drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) for HCC three times, beginning 10 months before his current visit. A computed tomography scan showed enlarged intraabdominal lymph nodes with calcification, and the interferon-gamma release assay for TB infection was positive. The patient was diagnosed with tuberculous reactivation. Anti-TB therapy was administered to the patient, after which we restarted TACE and the TB infection remains controlled. In this case, we presumed that DEB-TACE is associated with the reactivation of TB infection and that anthracycline increases the risk of reactivating TB infection. In summary, we experienced a case of TB reactivation during the clinical course of a patient with HCC who was treated with DEB-TACE. When patients with HCC are treated with TACE, their symptoms, laboratory data, and imaging results should be monitored when latent TB infections are suspected.