Efficacy and feasibility of radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a new treatment which is used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We performed this clinical trial to investigate whether it could reduce the damage of residual liver function. METHODOLOGY: We studied 40 hepatitis-related chronic patients who underwent RFA for hepatocellular carcinoma. Indocyanine green (ICG) test was performed pre and postoperatively. RESULTS: There were 32 males and 8 females with an average age of 53.98+12.59 years who underwent RFA for HCC. The mean preoperative ICGR15 value of 40 of the patients was (10.17+9.54) lower than the postoperative ICG retention rate at 15 min (ICGR15) value (14.95+12.71).Differences between the preoperative ICGR15 and the postoperative ICGR15 values were not significantly different (p=0.074). The 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 98.7%, 88.8% and 76.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that RFA is a minimally invasive treatment which provides a possible treatment modality for HCC patients with poor liver function and the efficacy is as well as the surgical treatment for HCC patients within the Milan criteria.