Therapeutic efficacy and safety of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma in bare area

Abstract

Objective To assess the therapeutic efficacy and safety of CT-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation(PRFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma in the bare area (HCCBA). Methods During the period from April 2000 to June 2009, 26 patients with HCCBA were treated with CTguided PRFA, and 26 other HCC patients were selected as controls, whose lesions were located in the right lobe ≥1.0 cm away from the liver capsule, gallbladder, and main portal branches. One month after PRFA, the residual tumors of each patient were examined by contrast-enhanced CT and alpha-fetoprotein test, and repeated PRFA was undertaken if residual was present. Tumor-free survival was defined as the duration from complete ablation to diagnosed local recurrence. The 2-independent-samples t-test was used to compare tumor diameter between HCCBA patients and controls. The MannWhitney U test was used to compare patient's age, etiologies of liver disease, liver function status,number of needle punctures and the value of AFP. A χ2 test was used for comparison of the complete tumor ablation rate and the cumulative local tumor-free survival rate. Results No significant difference was observed in the incidence of complication between the HCCBA patients and the controls (26. 9% vs 19.2%,P＞0.05). There were no differences between the two groups in the number of needle punctures and the complete tumor ablation rate at first PRFA. Furthermore, no differences were observed in the cumulative 1-,3- and 5-year local tumor-free survival rates between HCCBA patients (88. 5%, 46.2% and 19. 2% respectively) and patients in the control group (92.3%, 53.8% and 15.4% respectively). Conclusion CT-guided PRFA is effective and safe for HCCBA and could be preferred as one therapeutic option for HCCBA. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Liver bare area; Radiofrequency ablation; Therapeutic efficacy; Safety