Prognostic factors of hepatocellular carcinoma survival after radiofrequency ablation: A US population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the survival outcome and prognostic factors of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) survival in patients who underwent radiofrequency ablation (RFA).


METHODS
The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was queried: There were 2588 HCC patients from 2004 to 2012 who underwent RFA. The Kaplan-Meier curves and the multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to assess the prognostic factors.


RESULTS
With a median follow-up of 20 months, the 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were: 83%, 51% and 33%. Patients with a tumor size ≤5 cm in diameter had a better 5-year OS, as compared to patients with a tumor size >5 cm. The 5-year OS was significantly higher among patients with a normal level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), compared with those having elevated AFP. In an adjusted multivariate Cox regression analysis, those with ≥60 years of age (HR: 1.19; 95% CI 1.05-1.36), non-Asian race (HR: 1.53; 95% CI 1.30-1.81), tumor size >5 cm (HR: 1.43; 95% CI 1.24-1.65), elevated AFP (HR: 1.42; 95% CI 1.22-1.64), American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stages II-III (HR: 1.30; 95% CI 1.14-1.48) and the year of diagnosis from 2004-2007 (HR: 1.22; 95% CI 1.07-1.40) were significantly associated with a poor prognosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Age, race, tumor size, AFP level, AJCC stage and year of diagnosis were prognostic factors for OS in HCC patients who underwent RFA.
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
Mohamed Abd
MA
El-Fattah
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endemic and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University , Ismailia, Egypt.
Mohamed
M
Aboelmagd
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endemic and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University , Ismailia, Egypt.
Mohammed
M
Elhamouly
Alpha fetoprotein; SEER database; database analysis; hepatocellular carcinoma; liver cancer; prognostic factors; radiofrequency ablation; survival