Efficacy and Feasibility of Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a new treatment which is used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We performed this clinical trial to investigate whether it could reduce the damage of residual liver function. We studied 40 hepatitis-related chronic patients who underwent RFA for hepatocellular carcinoma. Indocyanine green (ICG) test was performed pre and postoperatively. There were 32 males and 8 females with an average age of 53.98+12.59 years who underwent RFA for HCC. The mean preoperative ICGR15 value of 40 of the patients was (10.17+9.54) lower than the postoperative ICG retention rate at 15 min (ICGR15) value (14.95+12.71).Differences between the preoperative ICGR15 and the postoperative ICGR15 values were not significantly different (p=0.074). The 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 98.7%, 88.8% and 76.4%, respectively. The results indicate that RFA is a minimally invasive treatment which provides a possible treatment modality for HCC patients with poor liver function and the efficacy is as well as the surgical treatment for HCC patients within the Milan criteria.