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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Laparoscopic Anterior Right Hepatectomy: A Single-Center Experience
Published on: December 4, 2023
Recurrence incidence of small HCC in cirrhosis patients by ablation versus injection
Noritaka Wakui1, Kazunari Iida, Takashi Ikehara
1Division Of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Toho University Omori Medical Center, 6-11-1, Omorinishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan 143-8541. noriwakui@yahoo.co.jp
Background/Aims:
The incidence of local recurrence of hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (15 mm or less) was compared retrospectively between a group treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) using cool-tip (Radionics, USA) 10-mm electrodes and a group treated with percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI).
Methodology:
There were 23 patients who were treated for a total of 25 tumors during a 3-year period at our hospital. Ten of the tumors (11.1 +/- 2.7mm) were treated with RFA using cool-tip 10-mm electrodes and 15 tumors (10.6 +/- 2.7 mm) were treated with PEI. After treatment, progression was evaluated in enhanced CT scans every 3-6 months to confirm presence or absence of local recurrence.
Results:
The number of recurrences, mean observation period, and mean recurrence period in the RFA group were 2 (20%), 6.6 months, and 6 months. The number of recurrences, mean observation period, and mean recurrence period in the PEI group were 2 (13.3%), 19.1 months, and 18 months. The period between treatment and recurrence tended to be longer in the PEI group than in the RFA group to be significant p < 0.05.
Conclusions:
The results suggest that PEI treatment is more effective in local treatment of hypervascular HCC with tumor diameters of 15 mm or less.
