Objective To investigate the effect of radiofrequency ablation(RFA) in the treatment of small liver cancer.Methods In recent 6 years,130 patients with primary or secondary liver cancer(≤5cm in diameter)were treated by RFA,among which 86 cases were primary,and 44 cases were secondary liver cancer.Among the 130 cases,18 received RFA plus TAEC,and 20 had RFA combined with PEI.Results Overall 1-and 3-year survival rate was 91.3% and 77.7% respectively.Complications occurred in 7 cases,including biliary fistula,intestinal fistula,and slight burn of skin.There was no death in this series.Conclusions RFA is an effective and safe therapeutic approach for small liver cancer ≤5cm in diameter.Its effect may be similar to that of surgical resection.

Objective To assess the use of bipolar radiofrequency device Habib 4X in hepatic malignant tumor resection. Methods Clinical data of 75 patients with hepatic malignant tumor undergoing hepatectomy with the use of Habib 4X in Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Cancer Center of Guangzhou Medical University from February 2009 to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 55 males and 20 females with a mean age of (53±12) years old. Forty-nine cases were with primary liver cancer and 26 cases were with secondary liver cancer. The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the ethics committee approval was received. Patients received endotracheal general anesthesia. Hepatectomy was performed after tumor ablation was employed with Habib 4X device 2-3 cm away from the tumor. The intraoperative bleeding, blood transfusion, operation duration, changes of postoperative alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TB), length of postoperative hospital stay and complications were observed. Patients were followed up after being discharged from hospital and tumor recurrence and mortality were observed. Results All the 75 patients underwent hepatectomy successfully. The mean intraoperative bleeding was (318±89)ml, the rate of blood transfusion was 7%(5/75), the median of operation duration was 104 (17-191) min, the length of postoperative hospital stay was (11±4)d. ALT, AST, TB rose to a top level 1 d after operation, then went down progressively and liver function backed to normal 9 d after operation. Two cases suffered from bile ifstula and were cured after enhancing drainage. The 1-, 3-year recurrence rates were 6%(3/49), 10%(5/49) respectively in patients with primary liver cancer and were 23%(6/26), 27%(7/26) respectively in patients with secondary liver cancer. The mortality were 4%(2/49), 27%(7/26) respectively in patients with primary liver cancer and secondary liver cancer during the follow-up. Two cases with primary liver cancer died of postoperative hepatic encephalopathy and 7 cases with secondary liver cancer died of tumor widespread metastasis. Conclusions Habib 4X is safe and effective for hepatic malignant tumor resection. It may reduce the postoperative tumor recurrence rate.