98537
Radiofrequency Ablation Compared to Resection in the Treatment of Hepatocellular
Carcinoma
Kaylene Barrera
Mentor: David Imagawa
The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing around the world. The current gold
standards in the treatment of HCC are orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and surgical resection.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been studied as an alternative treatment since OLT and resection
are not available for most patients. In this study we compare the outcomes of RFA versus resection
in the treatment of HCC. Using a liver cancer database, patients with HCC treated by RFA or
resection were identified and retrospective chart review was conducted. Kaplan-Meier was used to
calculate actuarial survival and disease-free survival. Log-rank, chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and T-Test
were used to determine statistical differences between groups. Fifty-five patients were identified of
whom 37 were treated with RFA and 18 by resection. Patients treated with RFA were more likely to
have multiple tumors, while those treated with resection tended to have larger tumors. Okuda and
Child-Pugh scores showed no difference between the two treatment groups. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year
survival for RFA was 75.6%, 51.1%, and 31.9% respectively, with disease free survival of 43.1%,
30.0%, and 18.7% at the same time intervals. Corresponding survival for resection was 67.7%,
43.2%, and 37.4%, with disease-free survival of 50.0%, 19.1%, and 19.1% at 1, 3, and 5 years. No
statistically significant difference was found for overall or disease-free survival between the two
treatment groups. This study shows that RFA can achieve long-term results comparable to resection
in the treatment of HCC.