title: Comparison of hepatic resection and radiofrequency ablation for small hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis of 16,103 patients.
abstract: We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the therapeutic effects of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and surgical hepatic resection (HR) in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thirty-one studies were included in the analysis. A total of 16,103 patients were involved: 8,252 treated with RFA and 7,851 with HR. Compared to the RFA group, the 3, 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates in the HR group were significantly higher. On the other hand, complications were significantly fewer and hospital-stay was significantly shorter in the RFA group than in the HR group. In subgroup analyses, the overall and disease-free survival in the HR group were also significantly higher than those in the RFA group for HCCs ≤ 3 cm, whereas there were no significant differences between the two groups for HCCs ≤ 2 cm. Our analysis showed that although HR was associated with higher complication rate and longer hospital-stay, HR is proposed as the first-line treatment rather than RFA for patients with HCCs larger than 2 cm. For patients with HCCs of 2 cm or less, RFA may be an alternative to HR because of their comparable long-term efficacy.
authors.affiliation: 1] Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center - Institut Mérieux Laboratory, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China [2] bioMérieux (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: cole Polytechnique ParisTech, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Seijin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: 1] Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center - Institut Mérieux Laboratory, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China [2] bioMérieux (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: 1] Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center - Institut Mérieux Laboratory, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China [2] bioMérieux (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000601:surgery*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult