OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of different interventional therapies for primary hepatic cell cancer (HCC).

METHODS1126 HCC patients before or after hepatectomy were treated by different kinds of interventional therapies: transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), TACE and radio-frequency ablation (RFA), Chinese traditional medicine and biotherapy after TACE or the transcatheter arterial infusion (TAI). The results of liver function, alpha-fetoprotein, imaging, color-ultrasonography and survival rate were reviewed.

RESULTS874 patients were followed up for 2 to 63 months. The overall 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rate was 67.8% , 28.7% and 18.8%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rate of patients who received TACE before hepatectomy was 74.7%, 41.4% and 36.9% ; after hepatectomy 78.9%, 40.4% and 37.5%, respectively. The response rate ( PR + NC) of TACE and RFA was 93.4%, and the 1-, 3-year survival rate was 74.5% and 36.8%, respectively, after TACE and RFA. The response rate (PR + NC) of TACE was 83.2% with 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rate of 69.3%, 21.7%, 8.4% after TACE, respectively. The response rate (PR + NC) of TAI was 27.5% with 1-, 2-year survival rate of 11. 6% and 0 after TAI. The Child grade of liver function, color-ultrasonography and alpha-fetoprotein of TACE + RFA group, TACE and TAI were compared. There was no significant difference between each above mentioned index among TACE, RFA or TACE groups.

CONCLUSIONCompared with other modalities, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) before or after hepatectomy is more effective than other interventional therapies for primary hepatocellular cancer, whereas, if combined with radiofrequency ablation (TAI), it is much more effective than TACE alone.