Efficacy and safety of short-term interval transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation sequential therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of short-term transcatheter arterial chemoembolization （TACE）-radiofrequency ablation （RFA） sequential therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:The clinical data of 117 patients with advanced HCC enrolled in the Central Hospital of Lishui from March 2010 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients received TACE and RFA sequential therapy. The patients were divided into 2 groups including short interval group (interval≤7 d, 61 cases) and long interval group (interval>7 d, 56 cases) according to interval between TACE and RFA. The difference of response rate was analyzed by Wilcoxon test. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to calculate the overall survival (OS) time and progression free survival (PFS) time.The risk factors of TACE-RFA sequential therapy were tested using Cox multivariate analysis. The complications in the two groups were compared using χ 2 test. Results:The response rate in the short interval group (72.1%, 43/61) was significantly higher than that in the long interval group (41.1%，23/56) with significant difference ( Z=-2.50, P=0.01). The median PFS in the short interval group (14.9 months) was longer than that in the long interval group (9.1 months). The difference of PFS survival curve between the 2 groups was statistically significant (χ2 =5.90, P=0.01).The median OS in the short interval group (34.7 months) was longer than that in the long interval group (20.3 months). The difference of OS survival curve between the 2 groups was statistically significant (χ2 =6.60, P=0.01). Cox multivariate analysis showed that tumor size [hazard ratio (HR)=2.42, P<0.01], cirrhosis (HR=2.04, P<0.01), interval (HR=0.44, P<0.01), aspartate aminotransferase (HR=1.71, P=0.03) were the independent risk factors for advanced HCC.There were no significant differences in the complication incidence between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Short-term interval TACE-RFA sequential therapy as a protective factor is efficient and safe for advanced HCC treatment.