The study, titled "Clinical Outcomes of Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery (PEDD) for Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) and Radioembolization (TARE)," was published online on April 9, 2026 in the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research. Using the Clarivate Real World Data Repository, researchers analyzed outcomes for 603 PEDD patients and 16,210 non-PEDD patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or secondary liver metastases who underwent TACE or TARE between January 2020 and March 2024.

Key Study Findings

Sicker Patients, Better Outcomes: PEDD patients had significantly higher baseline disease burden, with higher Charlson Comorbidity Index scores (7.1 vs. 6.4), more frequent prior healthcare utilization, and higher rates of prior systemic therapy use (24.5% vs. 16.1%). Despite this greater clinical complexity, PEDD patients demonstrated improved post-procedure outcomes after propensity-score matching.

Reduced Complications: In matched analyses, PEDD was associated with significantly lower rates of post-procedure fatigue overall (20.9% vs. 26.4%, p<0.05). Among patients receiving TACE, PEDD was associated with a 61% relative reduction in 30-day inpatient hospital visits (8.0% vs. 20.5%, p<0.05).

Better Targeting with Higher Drug Doses: PEDD-TACE patients received significantly higher procedure units of doxorubicin compared to non-PEDD patients (13.9 vs. 9.4, p<0.01) while experiencing fewer complications, suggesting improved tumor targeting with reduced off-target toxicity.

Enhanced Outcomes at High-Experience Facilities: At facilities with the highest PEDD procedure volume, PEDD patients experienced significantly lower lymphopenia rates overall (0.6% vs. 5.2%, p<0.05). Among patients with secondary liver metastases at these facilities, fatigue was cut roughly in half (19.2% vs. 39.7%, p<0.05) and lymphopenia was nearly eliminated (0.0% vs. 8.2%, p<0.05).

Significant Cost Avoidance: PEDD use was associated with mean per-patient charge avoidance of $7,734, driven by $3,135 in reduced inpatient stays and $4,599 in fewer clinical complications.

Notably, the study found that preservation of immune function — reflected in the lower lymphopenia rates among PEDD patients — may allow patients to better tolerate subsequent lines of therapy, including immunomodulatory treatments, potentially improving long-term disease management.

"This publication represents one of the largest and most comprehensive real-world analysis ever done in the interventional radiology space and reinforces what we've observed across clinical practice — that PEDD can improve outcomes for patients undergoing liver-directed therapies while also reducing the economic burden on the healthcare system," said Dr. Richard Marshall, Chief Medical Officer at TriSalus Life Sciences.

"These data underscore the clinical and economic value of PEDD, support its growing adoption across interventional oncology and demonstrates TriSalus' commitment to advancing the science and practice of interventional oncology," added Mary Szela, TriSalus CEO.