title: Comparison of prognosis by viral etiology in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency ablation.
abstract: BACKGROUND; Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been performed as a first line curative treatment modality for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within the Milan criteria currently. However, prognosis of hepatitis B- and hepatitis C-related HCC after RFA remains debatable. This study aimed to assess the impact of viral etiology on the prognosis of HCC patients undergoing RFA.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and ninety-two patients with positive serum HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and negative serum antibody against HCV (anti-HCV) were enrolled as the B-HCC group and 165 patients with negative serum HBsAg and positive anti-HCV as the C-HCC group. Post-RFA prognoses were compared between the two groups using multivariate and propensity score matching analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The B-HCC group had higher male-to-female ratio and better liver functional reserve than the C-HCC group. After a median follow-up of 23.0 ± 22.7 months, 55 patients died and 189 patients had tumor recurrence after RFA. The cumulative five-year survival rate was 75.9% and 69.5% in the B-HCC and C-HCC groups, respectively (p = 0.312), while the five-year recurrence-free survival rate was 19.0% and 26.6%, respectively (p = 0.490). After propensity-score matching, the B-HCC group still had comparable overall survival rate (p = 0.679) and recurrence-free survival rate (p = 0.689) to the C-HCC group. For 132 patients with Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0, the five-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival rates were also comparable between the two groups (p = 0.559 and p = 0.872, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Viral etiology is not essential for determining outcome in HCC patients undergoing RFA.
authors: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Ping-Hsien
authors: PH
authors: Chen
authors: Wei-Yu
authors: WY
authors: Kao
authors: Yi-You
authors: YY
authors: Chiou
authors: Hung-Hsu
authors: HH
authors: Hung
authors: Chien-Wei
authors: CW
authors: Su
authors: Yi-Hong
authors: YH
authors: Chou
authors: Teh-Ia
authors: TI
authors: Huo
authors: Yi-Hsiang
authors: YH
authors: Huang
authors: Wen-Chieh
authors: WC
authors: Wu
authors: Yee
authors: Y
authors: Chao
authors: Han-Chieh
authors: HC
authors: Lin
authors: Jaw-Ching
authors: JC
authors: Wu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D057216:Propensity Score; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies