Percutaneous Ethanol Injection and Radiofrequency Ablation for Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Les Than 2 CM

Abstract

Background and Aims: Detection rates of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) smaller than 2 cm in diameter are increasing because high risk patients are receiving more regular screenings. The aim of this study was to determine whether radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) is better for a patient with very small HCC.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively obtained data on patients with very small HCC from the database of Yuan's General Hospital. Of the 770 patients with HCC who were treated between January 1, 2002, and June 30, 2009, those who received PEI (n=22) or RFA (n=19) as the first-line nonsurgical treatment became subjects for further analysis. We compared the patients' baseline characteristics as well as the hospital stay, mean cost, complication rate, local tumor progression and new recurrent rate, recurrence free survival, and overall survival rate by group until the end of follow-up on June 30, 2010.Results: Analysis of baseline characteristics revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Nevertheless, the RFA group had a higher mean cost (37,278 versus 14,269 new Taiwan dollars, P＜0.001). Hospital stay, complication rate, local tumor progression and new recurrent rate, recurrence free survival, and overall survival between these two groups were not significantly different.Conclusions: Based on the current result derived from small sample size, for patients with very small single HCC (＜ 2 cm diameter), RFA resulted in significantly higher costs without significant differences in hospital stay, complication rate, recurrence free survival, or overall survival compared to PEI.