Laserthermia for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma: a preliminary study

A newly designed interstitial probe (hybrid probe) was used to treat small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with laserthermia. Before the human study, testing in normal rabbit liver was done to measure the thermal map. Laserthermia was then studied in human small HCC. The set condition was 43-45 degrees C in thermocouple and the duration of laserthermia was 20 minutes. On follow-up computed tomography and liver biopsies, laserthermia had tumorcidal effect. It is concluded that laserthermia may be helpful to patients with small HCC.