Objective
The primary objective of this study was to compare between liver resection (LR) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the management of early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We are trying to provide an update that can be valuable in clinical practice for determining the most suitable first-line management option for early HCC.
Patients and methods
The study included 80 patients with early HCC according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system. Patients were divided into two groups: group A included 40 (50%) patients treated through LR, whereas group B included 40 (50%) patients managed through percutaneous RFA. In this study, we used the alternation method as an allocation process in this study. Procedures in both groups were done according to conventional principles. Percutaneous RFA technique was done under the guidance of ultrasonography (US) in complete aseptic conditions. Collected data included procedure time, intraoperative bleeding, postoperative complications, pain score, ICU, and the total hospital stay days. After procedures, patients were monitored every three months throughout the follow-up period.
Results
A total of 80 patients with early HCC underwent treatment with LR (=40) and with RFA (=40). There is a significant difference between both groups regarding the mean time of the procedure: 145±19.8 versus 40.6±7.8 min for LR and RFA, respectively. Rates of recurrence significantly (<0.05) correlated with age and tumor size in both groups. No significant difference was observed in rates of recurrence or the time of recurrence (>0.05) between LR and RFA groups. However, the recurrence percentage was slightly higher among patients treated by RFA compared with LR group.
Conclusion
Our prospective comparative study offers evidence that RFA provides a novel treatment for early HCC, and it shows survival and tumor relapse rates comparable to LR.