Percutaneous microwave ablation versus surgical resection for ovarian cancer liver metastasis

Objective: To compare the oncological outcomes between microwave ablation (MWA) and surgical resection (SR) in patients with ovarian cancer liver metastasis (OCLM).Materials and methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 29 female patients (mean age, 47.8 ± 12.9 years; range, 21-65 years) diagnosed with forty-three OCLM nodules between September 2008 and July 2016 were included. All patients with ovarian cancer received chemotherapy and cytoreductive surgery (CRS). Fifteen patients with 22 nodules underwent MWA, and 14 patients with 21 nodules underwent SR. Overall survival (OS), local tumor recurrence-free survival (LTRS), and operation-related parameters were compared between the two groups. Multivariate analyses were performed on clinicopathological variables to identify factors affecting OS and LTRS.Results: The median follow-up time was 70.2 months (range, 12.1-107.2 months). Fourteen patients died during this period. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS and LTRS rates after MWA were comparable to those after SR (p = .198 and p = .889, respectively). Compared with the SR group, the MWA group had a shorter surgical time (p < .001), less estimated blood loss (p < .001), shorter postoperative hospitalization (p < .001) and fewer costs (p = .015). The multivariate analysis showed that old age (p = .001) was a predictor of poor OS and that intrahepatic tumor size (p = .005) and intrahepatic tumor number (p = .001) were predictors of poor LTRS.Conclusion: Percutaneous MWA had comparable oncologic outcomes with those of SR and could be a safe and effective treatment for OCLM.