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Regarding the list of authors in the published article, only 4 out of the 20 authors appear correctly with the given name followed by the family name. They are: Katerina Malagari, Emmanouil Emmanouil, Theodoros Karampelas, and Konstantinos Tamvakopoulos. The 16 other authors appear incorrectly with the family name followed by the given name. The given name needs to be followed by the family name as shown in this erratum and the updated original article. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Background: This study examined the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using a newly developed size of a superabsorbent polymer drug-eluting embolic material. Methods: Forty-five patients with documented HCC (Child-Pugh score A/B: 55.5 %/44.5 %) were embolized with HepaSphere microspheres 30-60 μm with escalation of lesion, dose, and frequency of re-embolization. Local response was evaluated with modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST). Plasma levels of doxorubicin were measured in 24 patients at baseline and at 5, 20, 40, 60, and 120 min, at 6, 24, and 48 h, and at 7 days, respectively, to determine doxorubicin in plasma (Cmax) and area under the curve (AUC). Measurements of three patients who underwent lipiodol-based conventional chemoembolization (c-TACE) were also performed. Results: TACE with HepaSphere was well tolerated with an acceptable safety profile and no 30-day mortality. Response rates were calculated on intention-to-treat basis with complete response (CR) in 17.8 % reaching 22.2 % for the target lesion. Overall partial response (PR) was seen in 51.1 %, stable disease in 20 %, and progressive disease in 11.1 % of patients. Overall objective response (CR + PR), including patients treated at all dosages of doxorubicin, was seen in 68.9 % of cases. After a median follow-up of 15.6 months, 1-year survival is 100 %. Doxorubicin AUC was significantly lower in patients with HepaSphere 30-60 μm (35,195 ± 27,873 ng × min/ml) than in patients with conventional TACE (103,960 ± 16,652 ng × min/ml; p = 0.009). Cmax was also significantly lower with HepaSphere 30-60 μm (83.9 ± 32.1 ng/ml) compared with c-TACE (761.3 ± 58.8 ng/ml; p = 0.002). Conclusion: HepaSphere 30-60 μm is an effective drug-eluting embolic material with a favourable pharmacokinetic profile. © 2013 The Author(s).