Cryoablation of malignant liver tumors: results of a single center study

Local ablative procedures such as cryosurgery and thermo-ablation are increasingly employed as a supplement to liver resection for the therapy of primary and secondary liver tumors. It is still unclear if the survival time can be extended through local ablative procedures. This prospective study shows operative actions, complications and long-term follow-up of 19 patients undergoing cryotherapy.

Between 1997 and 1998, 19 patients underwent cryotherapy due to a non-resectable malignant liver tumor (17 patients with metastases of a colon carcinoma, 2 patients with a hepatocellular carcinoma). Twelve patients (63.2%) received cryotherapy only and seven patients (36.8%) received a combination of resection and cryotherapy. The median follow-up period was 23 months.

In a total of 59 liver tumors (18 were resected and 41 received cryotherapy), 12 had cryotherapy only, and 7 had a combination of cryotherapy and resection. The 30-day lethality was 0%, and the rate of major complications was 21%. After one year, 27.3% of the patients were still recurrence-free. The recurrence rate for all tumors treated was 58.8%. The median survival time for all patients was 21 months. The one- and three-year survival rates were 62.5% and 15.8%, respectively.

The mortality for cryotherapy is low, but there is a high rate of complications and long-term tumor control is not sufficient. If local ablative procedures of hepatic lesions are to be performed, not laparotomy but percutaneous, percutaneous thermoablation should be discussed as an alternative therapeutic measure.