title: Efficacy of radiofrequency ablation therapy compared to surgical resection in 164 patients in Japan with single hepatocellular carcinoma smaller than 3 cm, along with report of complications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Radiofrequency ablation therapy (RFA) has become widely used against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), mainly because of its ease of use, lower level of invasiveness, and high level of effectiveness. To compare the efficacy and safety of RFA with surgery, we retrospectively investigated relevant patient clinical data.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients with a single HCC (3 cm > or =, Child-Pugh A or B) who were treated with RFA (RFA-group: n=105) or surgery (Surgery-group: n=59) from January 2000 to June 2007 were enrolled.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ratio of patients classified as Child-Pugh B was greater in RFA-group (24.8% vs. 8.5%, P=0.011), though the sizes of the tumors were not significantly different. There were no significant differences for survival rates or disease free survival rates after 3- and 5-years (RFA-group vs. Surgery-group; survival: 87.8 and 59.3% vs. 91.4 and 59.4%, disease free survival: 58.7 and 24.6% vs. 64.3 and 22.4%, respectively). As for complications, in RFA-group there was no severe complication while there was 1 case of postoperative hepatic failure death and 2 with a postoperative abscess in Surgery-group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present study, patients with a single HCC smaller than 3cm who underwent RFA had a lower frequency of severe complications, thus the efficacy of RFA was thought to be equal to a surgical procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Ehime Prefectural Central Hospital, Ehime, Japan. hirage@m.ehime-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Horiike
authors.forename: Yoshimasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Aki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasebe
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Yasunao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Otomi
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kokame
authors.forename: Takuaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwamura
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishimaru
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sogabe
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kashihara
authors.forename: Saburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishiura
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ootani
authors.forename: Kazuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies