[CT-guided radiofrequency ablation of liver metastases from colorectal cancer]

Data on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of liver metastasis has not been uniform. The goal of this study was to determine medium-term success of CT-guided RFA of liver metastases from colorectal cancer.

43 consecutive patients (27 men; aged 67+/-10 years) with a total of 87 liver metastases from colo-rectal cancer were included in this retrospective analysis. All patients underwent percutaneous RFA after first- or second-line chemotherapy. The mean follow-up period was 29.8 +/- 22.7 (4 - 85) months. Overall survival and local recurrence-free survival were determined using Kaplan-Meier curves. The effects of primary therapeutic success, number of lesions, maximum lesion size and sum of lesion diameters were assessed.

In total, 83 lesions were treated during 56 interventions. Taking into account local recurrence and incomplete ablation 86.7 % of metastases were successfully ablated. The median survival was 46 months with estimated 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of 89.0 %, 66.2 % and 41.8 %, respectively. The median interval to hepatic tumor progression was 13 months after RFA. Survival was related to primary treatment success (p = 0.0353), number of lesions (p = 0.0050) and sum of lesion diameters (p = 0.0199).

CT-guided RFA is an effective treatment of liver metastases from colorectal cancer. These data support the use of RFA in patients considered ineligible for surgery.