Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 6, 2020; 8(19): 4380-4387
Published online Oct 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i19.4380
Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation is superior to hepatic resection in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma
Yan-Hua Zhang, Bo Su, Pei Sun, Ru-Meng Li, Xiao-Chun Peng, Jun Cai
Yan-Hua Zhang, Jun Cai, Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, Hubei Province, China
Bo Su, Pei Sun, Ru-Meng Li, Xiao-Chun Peng, Laboratory of Oncology, Center for Molecular Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Peng XC designed and supervised the study; Zhang YH, and Su B processed the study; Zhang YH, Peng XC, and Cai J wrote the manuscript; Zhang YH, Sun P and Li RM contributed to tables and figures; Peng XC and Cai J acquired funding; all authors read and approved the final manuscript; Peng XC and Cai J contributed to the manuscript equally as corresponding authors.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China, No. 2017CFB786; Hubei Province Health and Family Planning Scientific Research Project, China, No. WJ2016Y10; Jingzhou Science and Technology Bureau Project, China, No. 2017-93; and the College Students Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Program in Yangtze University, China, No. 2019376.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Health Science Center of Yangtze University, No. CJYXBEC2018-108.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at pxcwd789@sina.com.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jun Cai, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital, Yangtze University, No. 1 Nanhuan Road, Jingzhou 434023, Hubei Province, China. 2911152289@qq.com
Received: June 16, 2020
Peer-review started: June 16, 2020
First decision: July 24, 2020
Revised: July 27, 2020
Accepted: August 26, 2020
Article in press: August 26, 2020
Published online: October 6, 2020
Processing time: 97 Days and 19 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

It is not known whether percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) has the same treatment efficacy and fewer complications than laparoscopic resection in patients with small centrally located hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

AIM

To compare the effectiveness of PRFA with classical laparoscopic resection in patients with small HCC and document the safety parameters.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, 85 patients treated with hepatic resection (HR) and 90 PRFA-treated patients were enrolled in our hospital from July 2016 to July 2019. Treatment outcomes, including major complications and survival data, were evaluated.

RESULTS

The results showed that minor differences existed in the baseline characteristics between the patients in the two groups. PRFA significantly increased cumulative recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio 1.048, 95%CI: 0.265–3.268) and overall survival (hazard ratio 0.126, 95%CI: 0.025–0.973); PRFA had a lower rate of major complications than HR (7.78% vs 20.0%, P < 0.05), and hospital stay was shorter in the PRFA group than in the HR group (7.8 ± 0.2 d vs 9.5 ± 0.3 d, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Based on the data obtained, we conclude that PRFA was superior to HR and may reduce complications and hospital stay in patients with small HCC.

Keywords: Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation; Hepatic resection; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Efficacy; Safety; Cancer

Core Tip: In this retrospective study, the effectiveness of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) with classical laparoscopic resection in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was compared and the safety parameters determined. PRFA treatment reduced the incidence of complications compared with resection and significantly improved overall survival as well as recurrence-free survival. Therefore, PRFA was superior to hepatic resection and may reduce complications and mortality in patients with small HCC.