Long-term survival after radiofrequency ablation of complex unresectable liver tumors

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) may improve survival of high-risk patients with unresectable and refractory tumors.

Retrospective analysis of a prospective database.

A tertiary referral cancer center.

Between November 1, 1997, and January 31, 2005, we performed 219 RFA procedures to ablate 521 hepatic tumors in 181 patients.

Of the 181 patients, 52% were male and 48% were female, and the mean age was 61.3 years (age range, 27-91 years). Radiofrequency ablation was performed via celiotomy (n = 135), via laparoscopy (n = 48), or percutaneously (n = 36). In 106 patients (79%), RFA was used in combination with surgical resection. The most common tumors included colorectal cancer (40.9%), hepatocellular carcinoma (14.9%), carcinoid tumor (13.8%), melanoma (9.4%), and breast cancer (5.0%). The average number of tumors per patient was 3.3 tumors. The average number of RFA-treated lesions per procedure was 2.38 lesions; the mean lesion size was 3.56 cm (lesion size range, 0.8-9.0 cm). At a mean follow-up of 33.2 months (follow-up range, 12-91 months), overall survival was 48.3 months for carcinoid tumors, 25.2 months for hepatocellular carcinoma, 18.5 months for melanoma, 29.7 months for colorectal cancer, and 30.1 months for breast cancer. Seventy-eight patients (43%) developed recurrences. Of 521 tumors that were treated, 125 (24%) recurred; the incidence of local recurrence was 28% for tumors larger than 3 cm vs 18% for tumors 3 cm or smaller (P = .04). Twenty-nine patients underwent serial ablations. Seventy-one patients (39%) were disease free at last follow-up.

A significant number of patients whose hepatic malignancies are unresectable or refractory to chemotherapy may be considered for RFA as part of a multimodality therapeutic regimen. In these patients, RFA is safe and may prolong survival.