Laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: long-term follow-up

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has seen a dramatic rise in the USA over the last 30 years. Unresectable disease is present in 80-90% of patients, for which radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an option. The aim of this study is to report the long-term survival after laparoscopic RFA.

This is a prospective analysis of 104 patients who underwent 122 ablations for unresectable HCC from April 1997 to December 2006 at a tertiary care center. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves, excluding 11 patients who subsequently underwent liver transplantation. Patients were analyzed using Child-Pugh classification, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging and various clinical parameters.

Median (range) data: age 63 years (41-81), lesion size 3.5 cm (1-10), number of lesions 1 (1-5), AFP 26.5 ng/ml (3.7-43588.5) and time from diagnosis to RFA 2 months (mos) (1-42). The median Kaplan-Meier survival for all patients was 26 mos (OS) while DFS was 14 mos. Univariate analysis demonstrated improved OS for the absence vs. presence of ascites (31 vs. 15 mos, p=0.003), Bilirubin <2 mg/dl vs. > or = 2 mg/dl (27 vs. 19 mos, p=0.01), AFP <400 vs. > or = 400 (29 vs. 13 mos, p<0.0001) and Child-Pugh Grade (A = 28, B = 15, C = 5 mos, p=0.01). Significant factors for improved DFS: absence vs. presence of ascites (16 vs. 5 mos, p=0.02), Bilirubin <2 vs. > or = 2 (14 vs. 5 mos, p=0.0278), AFP <400 vs. > or = 400 (15 vs. 4 mos, p=0.0025), Child-Pugh Grade (A = 16, B = 10, C = 3 mos, p=0.03). Patient age, largest tumor size, number of lesions, INR and albumin did not reach clinical significance. Three and five-year actual survival rates are 21% and 8.3%, respectively.

Our study suggests that RFA may have a positive impact on survival for unresectable HCC. It also determines which patients fare best after RFA, by determining predictive factors that improve their survival.