Comparison of long-term effectiveness and complications of radiofrequency ablation with hepatectomy for small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aim: To determine and compare the adverse events and long-term effectiveness for patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (≤ 3 cm) treated by percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or hepatectomy.

Methods: Small HCC from 120 patients were randomized into either percutaneous RFA therapy or hepatectomy group, and the effectiveness and complications of two treatment modalities were analyzed. The complications of post-RFA or hepatectomy, the complete treatment rate, treatment-related mortality, and disease-free and overall survival rate were followed up and conducted.

Results: In patients with small HCC, complete remission rates were achieved in 95% and 96.7% in the percutaneus RFA and hepatectomy groups, respectively (P > 0.05). Hepatic function at day-7 status post-treatment, including albumin and bilirubin levels, were significantly worse in the hepatectomy group (P < 0.01). Compared with the RFA group, the incidence of postoperative complications (27.5% vs 5.0%) and hospital stay (11.8 ± 3.1 vs 4.3 ± 1.5) were significantly higher in the hepatectomy group (P < 0.01). After a mean follow-up of 40 months, 22 patients (36.6%) in the RFA group and 21 patients (35.0%) in the hepatectomy group developed a recurrence (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference of the disease-free and overall survival rates at 1, 2, and 3 years between the RFA group and the surgical hepatectomy group (P = 0.443 and P = 0.207, respectively).

Conclusions: In patients with small HCC, percutaneous RFA showed similar local control and long-term survival compared with hepatectomy. Importantly, percutaneous RFA are accompanied with a lower complication rate and shorter hospital stay day.