237 Radiofrequency ablation versus surgical resection in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma; retrospective comparative study

Radiofrequency Ablation Versus Resection for Liver Tumours: An Evidence-Based Approach to Retrospective Comparative Studies

“…18,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] All studies were retrospective except for three which were prospective, 27,30,34 including two randomized trials. 30,34 Some studies reported specific data for solitary 18,22,24,26,28,32,34,36,39,40 or small tumours.…”

“…30,34 Some studies reported specific data for solitary 18,22,24,26,28,32,34,36,39,40 or small tumours. 18,22,26,[30][31][32][34][35][36]40 A study based on a theoretical mathematical analysis using the Markov modelling to simulate a randomized trial of RFA and HR for HCC less than 5 cm was also retrieved and discussed, but its numeric data were not included. 41 Two studies reported OS and DFS for shorter follow-ups, 33,37 one study had a significant higher percentage of patients that underwent previous HR in the RFA group and presented lower RFA survival rates compared to the others studies examined.…”

“…It is also possible that this better prognosis following HR may result from differences between groups in respect of the size of the tumours treated and as a consequence the disease free margins (Ro resections) that were achieved. The data do not support this however, as even the case specific data available for small tumours 18,22,26,[30][31][32][34][35][36]40 again demonstrated consistently higher survivals rates for HR compared to RFA. This appears to suggest that tumour characteristics other than the size or number of lesions influence the OS differences observed in these studies.…”

Systematic review and meta-analysis of survival and disease recurrence after radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma

“…In some studies RFA was used in combination with surgery for disease that was otherwise not treatable by resection alone. 45,46,64,65 , whereas those in the resection group were 0-10 per cent 45,46,56,62,64 and 33-51 per cent 45,46,64,65 . None of the eight studies showed significant differences in overall survival rates between the RFA and resection groups.…”

Local Ablative Therapies in HCC: Percutaneous Ethanol Injection and Radiofrequency Ablation

“…Several non-randomized studies demonstrated equivalent overall survival with RFA and surgery [46][47][48] . Some of these non-randomized trials indicated higher intrahepatic recurrence rates when compared with resection [49,50] , but long-term survival was equivalent in both treatment groups.…”