RF Ablation Plus Chemoembolization Comparable to Surgery for Early Liver Cancer

NEW YORK APR 02, 2008 (Reuters Health) - Radiofrequency ablation combined with chemoembolization provides comparable overall and disease-free survival as hepatectomy for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, Japanese investigators report.
In their study, the overall survival rate at 5 years was 75% with the combined treatment and 81% with surgery. The corresponding recurrence-free survival rates were also similar, 27% and 26%.
The findings suggest that "radiofrequency ablation combined with chemoembolization provides patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma similar results to surgical intervention," lead author Dr. Koichiro Yamakado told Reuters Health. He added that his team is now planning to conduct a randomized trial to confirm this.
Surgical resection is considered the gold standard for treating early-stage disease, but only 9% to 29% of patients are eligible for this procedure either because of underlying pathology that limits their hepatic reserve or because tumor nodules are spread throughout the liver, according to the report in the April issue of Radiology.
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