Surgical microwave ablation for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in 791 operations

Abstract

IntroductionHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality and often arises in the setting of cirrhosis. The present series reviews outcomes following 791 operations. MethodsRetrospective review surgical MWA for HCC from March 2007 through December 2022 at a high-volume institution was performed using a prospective database. Primary outcome was overall survival. ResultsA total of 791 operations in 623 patients and 1156 HCC tumors were treated with surgical MWA. Median tumor size was 2 cm (range 0.25–10 cm) with an average of 1 tumor ablated per operation (range 1–7 tumors). Nearly 90 % of patients had cirrhosis with a median MELD score of 8 (IQR = 6–11). Mortality within 30 days occurred in 13 patients (1.6 %). Per tumor, the rate of incomplete ablation was 2.25 % and local recurrence was 2.95 %. Previous ablation and tumor size were risk factors for recurrence. One-year overall survival was 82.0 % with a median overall survival of 36.5 months (95 % CI 15.7–93.7) and median disease-free survival of 15.9 months (range 5.7–37.3 months). ConclusionSurgical MWA offers a low-morbidity approach for treatment of HCC, affording low rates of incomplete ablation and local recurrence.