Application of radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of metastatic liver cancers.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to elucidate the effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of metastatic liver cancers.


METHODS
From 74 patients with metastatic liver cancers treated by RFA, 40 patients including 23 colon cancer who had received curative resection of the primary tumor were analyzed.


RESULTS
Recurrence of the tumor was observed in 29 (72.5%) patients. The most prevalent site of recurrence was the liver in both colon cancer (10/15, 66.7%) and non-colon cancer patients (12/14, 85.7%). Among the recurrence in the liver, the rate of intrahepatic distant recurrence (recurrence outside of the RFA-treated segment) was high in both colon cancer (55.6%) and non-colon cancer patients (69.0%). Local recurrence (recurrence at the RFA-treated segment) rate was low (32.6% and 32.9%, respectively) and none of single tumor less than 2 cm in diameter showed local recurrence. The intrahepatic recurrence was single in 67.6% of the patients and 59.1% of the patients were re-treated by RFA.


CONCLUSIONS
RFA is a less-invasive method for the treatment of metastatic liver tumors and can be performed repetitively. Although the rate of intra-hepatic distant recurrence and extra-hepatic recurrence was high, good local control can be achieved by RFA.
Nouso
Kazuhiro
K
Department of Molecular Hepatology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama-city, Okayama, 700-8558 Japan. nouso@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
Kobayashi
Yoshiyuki
Y
Nakamura
Shinichiro
S
Uematsu
Shuji
S
Shiraga
Kunihiro
K
Iwadou
Shouta
S
Araki
Yasuyuki
Y
Taniguchi
Hideaki
H
Tanaka
Hironori
H
Toshikuni
Nobuyuki
N
Kaneyoshi
Toshihiko
T
Ikeda
Hiroshi
H
Fujioka
Shinichi
S
Osawa
Toshiya
T
Iwasaki
Yoshiaki
Y
Shiraha
Hidenori
H
Yamamoto
Kazuhide
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D018579:Patient Selection; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome