Clinical outcomes of surgical resection versus radiofrequency ablation in very-early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma: a propensity score matching analysis

Yuan Chen Li, Ping Hung Chen, Jen Hao Yeh, Pojen Hsiao, Gin Ho Lo, Tao Qian Tan, Pin Nan Cheng, Hung Yu Lin, Yaw Sen Chen, Kun Chou Hsieh*, Pei Min Hsieh, Chih Wen Lin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The detection rate of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) very-early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing because of advances in surveillance and improved imaging technologies for high-risk populations. Surgical resection (SR) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are both first‐line treatments for very-early-stage HCC, but the differences in clinical outcomes between patients treated with SR and RFA remain unclear. This study investigated the prognosis of SR and RFA for very-early‐stage HCC patients with long‐term follow‐up. Methods: This study was retrospectively collected data on the clinicopathological characteristics, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS) of 188 very-early-stage HCC patients (≤ 2 cm single HCC). OS and DFS were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression analysis. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed. Results: Of the 188 HCC patients, 103 received SR and 85 received RFA. The median follow‐up time was 56 months. The SR group had significantly higher OS than the RFA group (10-year cumulative OS: 55.2% and 31.3% in the SR and RFA groups, respectively). No statistically significant difference was observed in DFS between the SR and RFA groups (10-year cumulative DFS: 45.9% and 32.6% in the SR and RFA groups, respectively). After PSM, the OS in the SR group remained significantly higher than that in the RFA group (10-year cumulative OS: 54.7% and 42.2% in the SR and RFA groups, respectively). No significant difference was observed in DFS between the SR and RFA groups (10-year cumulative DFS: 43.0% and 35.4% in the SR and RFA groups, respectively). Furthermore, in the multivariate Cox regression analysis, treatment type (hazard ratio (HR): 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.31–0.95; P = 0.032) and total bilirubin (HR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.09–3.41; P = 0.025) were highly associated with OS. In addition, age (HR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.36–3.36; P = 0.001) and cirrhosis (HR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.11–2.89; P = 0.018) were strongly associated with DFS. Conclusion: For patients with very-early-stage HCC, SR was associated with significantly higher OS rates than RFA. However, no significant difference was observed in DFS between the SR and RFA groups.

Original languageEnglish
Article number418
JournalBMC Gastroenterology
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Disease-free survival
  • Overall survival
  • Radiofrequency ablation
  • Surgical procedures
  • Very-early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma

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