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Radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta analysis
Jun-Guo Liu1, Yi-Jun Wang, Zhi Du
1Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Third Central Hospital, Tianjin 300170, China.
Aim:
To evaluate survival and recurrence after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using a meta-analysis.
Methods:
Literature on RFA vs surgical resection for the treatment of small HCC published between January 1990 and December 2008 was retrieved. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled survival and recurrence ratios. A fixed or random effect model was established to collect the data.
Results:
The differences in overall survival at 1-year, 3-years and at end of follow-up were not statistically significant between the RFA and surgery groups (P > 0.05). There were no differences in 1-year and 3-year recurrences between the RFA and surgery groups (P > 0.05). However, recurrence in the RFA group was lower than that in the surgery group up to the end of follow-up (P = 0.03). Survival was not significantly different. There was a significant difference in recurrences at the end of follow-up after RFA compared with surgical resection.
Conclusion:
RFA did not decrease the number of overall recurrences, and had no effect on survival when compared with surgical resection in a selected group of patients.
