Microwave ablation is as effective as radiofrequency ablation for very-early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma
10.1186/s40880-017-0183-x
- Author:
Xu YUN
1
;
Shen QIANG
;
Wang NENG
;
Wu PAN-PAN
;
Huang BIN
;
Kuang MING
;
Qian GUO-JUN
Author Information
1. Department of Minimal Invasion Therapy
- Keywords:
Microwave ablation;
Radiofrequency ablation;
Hepatocellular carcinoma
- From:Chinese Journal of Cancer
2017;36(5):231-240
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Background: Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a first-line treatment for very-early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), whereas the efficacy of percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) for very-early-stage HCC remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to clarify this issue by comparing the safety and efficacy of percutaneous MWA with percutaneous RFA in treating very-early-stage HCC. Methods: Clinical data of 460 patients who were diagnosed with very-early-stage HCC and treated with percutane-ous MWA or RFA between January 2007 and July 2012 at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Mili-tary Medical University, in Shanghai, China were retrospectively analyzed. Of these 460 patients, 159 received RFA, 301 received MWA. Overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), local tumor progression (LTP), complete ablation, and complication occurrence rates were compared between the two groups, and the prognostic factors associated with survival were analyzed. Results: No significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the 1-, 3-, or 5-year OS rates (99.3%, 90.4%, and 78.3% for MWA vs. 98.7%, 86.8%, and 73.3% for RFA, respectively;P= 0.331). Furthermore, no signif-icant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the corresponding RFS rates (94.4%, 71.8%, and 46.9% for MWA vs. 89.9%, 67.3%, and 54.9% for RFA, respectively;P= 0.309), the LTP rates (9.6% vs. 10.1%,P= 0.883), the complete ablation rates (98.3% vs. 98.1%,P= 0.860), or the occurrence rates of major complications (0.7% vs. 0.6%,P= 0.691). By multivariate analysis, LTP, antiviral therapy, and treatment of recurrence were independent risk fac-tors for OS (P < 0.001), and the alpha-fetoprotein level was an independent prognostic factor for RFS (P= 0.002). Conclusions: MWA is as safe and effective as RFA in treating very-early-stage HCC, supporting MWA as a first-line treatment option for this disease.
