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Updated: Mar 22, 2026
Treatment of Liver Metastases Using an Internal Target Volume Method for Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy
Published on: May 8, 2018
Stereotactic Radiofrequency Ablation for Metastatic Melanoma to the Liver
Reto Bale1, Peter Schullian2, Matthias Schmuth3
1Department of Radiology, Section of Interventional Oncology - Microinvasive Therapy (SIP), Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstr. 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria. reto.bale@i-med.ac.at.
Purpose:
To evaluate the outcome of patients with melanoma liver metastasis treated with stereotactic radiofrequency ablation (SRFA).
Material And Method:
Following IRB approval, a retrospective evaluation of the treatment of 20 patients with 75 melanoma liver metastases was performed.
Results:
A median number of 2 lesions (range 1-14) per patient with a median size of 1.7 cm (range 0.5-14.5 cm) were treated. 67 lesions were <3 cm (89.3 %) and 8 lesions were >3 cm (10.7 %). Per patient a median of 1 ablation session was performed (range: 1-4) totaling 34 sessions. There were no procedure-related deaths and all major complications (n = 3) could be easily treated by pleural drainages. The primary and secondary success rates were 89.3 and 93.3 %, respectively. The overall local recurrence rate was 13.3 %. Four of ten local recurrences were re-treated successfully by SRFA. During follow-up, 9/20 patients developed extrahepatic metastatic disease and 10/20 had liver recurrence at any location. The median OS from the date of SRFA was 19.3 months, with an OS of 64, 41, and 17 % at 1, 3, and 5 years, with no significant difference for patients with cutaneous and ocular melanoma. The median DFS after SRFA for all 20 patients was 9.5 months, with 37, 9, and 0 % at 1, 3, and 5 years.
Conclusions:
Due to the high local curative potential and the promising long-term survival rates associated with minimal morbidity and mortality, radiofrequency ablation seems to be an attractive alternative to resection in patients with melanoma liver metastases.
