Laser ablation for small hepatocellular carcinoma: State of the art and future perspectives

Table 1 Studies reporting the outcome of Laser Ablation for small hepatocellular carcinoma

Ref.	Pts/Tumors no	Tumor size (cm) mean	Complete ablationa, %	Local recurrence rate, %	Overall survival %		3-yr disease-free survival %	Major complication rateb, %	Mortality rate, %	P value
					3-yr	5-yr
Giorgio et al[31] (2000)	77/85	≤ 4.0c	82f	1.1				3.9d	1.3d
Pacella et al[73] (2001)	30/30	> 5.0	90f (+ TACE)	7	40			0	0
	30/15	≤ 3.0	100f	0				0	0
	Child-Pugh A				60					0.001
	Child-Pugh B				0
Pacella et al[66] (2001)	74/92	≤ 4.0c	97f	6	68	15		0	0
	Child-Pugh A				73	31				0.052
	Child-Pugh B7,8,9				68	0
Eichler et al[61] (2001)	39/61	≤ 5.0e	97.5g	0	4.4 yr			0	0
Pacella et al[42] (2005)	82/99	≤ 4.0c	90.9f	8.8				1.5	0
Francica et al[64] (2007)	148/169	≤ 4.0c	82f	14.7	52	27		0.6	0.6
		≤ 2.0	95f	5
		≤ 3.0	89f	15
		> 3.0	74f	26						0.001
	Well-differentiated	≤ 3.0		0	58
	Poorly-differentiated			25						0.008
Pacella et al[68] (2009)1	432/548	≤ 4.0c	79.6f	202	61	34		1.6	0.2
		≤ 2.0	85.1f		41
	Child-Pugh A				63
	Child-Pugh A	≤ 2.0			683
Francica et al[53] (2012)	106/1164	≤ 4.0c	92.2f	10.6				0.9	0.5	NS
	58/66	≤ 4.0c	95.5f
Francica et al[65] (2012)	116/132	≤ 4.0c	100f	18.0	57	29				0.0295
				2.25
Eichler et al[44] (2012)	113/175	≤ 5.0e	98g	1.1	54	30		0	0
Di Costanzo et al[43] (2013)	104/116	≤ 6.0	87.6f	16
		≤ 5.0	91.7f
Di Costanzo et al[72] (2013)6	70/80 (LA)	≤ 5.06	96.3f	23.9	66		42	0	0
	70/77	≤ 5.06	97.4f	25.7	59		43	0	0	0.693

^aCalculated per tumor;

^bCalculated per patient;

^cSingle tumor ≤ 4 cm or ≤ 3 nodules each ≤ 3 cm;

^dIn patients with Child-Pugh C;

^eSingle tumor ≤ 5 cm or multiple ≤ 5;

^fWith bare fibers;

^gWith water-cooled fibers;

¹Multicentric retrospective study;

²Local and distant;

³In pts Child-Pugh class A well-differentiated tumor;

⁴At risk site;

⁵Only if the ablative margin was ≥ 7.5 mm;

⁶RCT with Milan criteria;

^7,8,9Refers to the Child-Pugh class. NA: Not available; NS: Nonsignificant; CR: Complete response.