Combined radiofrequency ablation and ethanol injection versus repeat hepatectomy for elderly patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after initial hepatic surgery

Purpose: To retrospectively compare the efficacy and safety of combined radiofrequency ablation and percutaneous ethanol injection (RFA–PEI) with repeat hepatectomy for elderly patients with initial recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatic surgery.

Methods: From January 2009 to June 2015, 105 elderly patients (≥70 years) who underwent RFA–PEI (n = 57) or repeated hepatectomy (n = 48) for recurrent HCC ≤ 5.0 cm were included in the study. The overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analysed with the Kaplan–Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Non-tumour-related death, complications and hospital stays were assessed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the prognostic significance of the variables in predicting the OS and RFS.

Results: OS rates were 78.2%, 40.8% and 36.7% at 1, 3 and 5 years after RFA–PEI and 76.3%, 52.5% and 42.6% after repeat hepatectomy, respectively (p = 0.413). Correspondingly, the 1-, 3- and 5-year RFS rates after RFA–PEI and repeat hepatectomy were 69.5%, 37.8%, 33.1% and 73.1%, 49.7%, 40.7%, respectively (p = 0.465). Non-tumour-related deaths in the RFA–PEI group (2/57) were significantly fewer than those in the repeat hepatectomy group (10/48) (p = 0.016). RFA–PEI was superior to repeat hepatectomy regarding the major complication rates and length of in-hospital stay (both p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the tumour number was the significant prognostic factor for the OS (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.961, 95% CI = 1.043–3.686, p = 0.037) and RFS (HR = 1.866, 95% CI = 1.064–3.274, p = 0.030).

Conclusion: RFA–PEI provides comparable OS and RFS to repeat hepatectomy for elderly patients with small recurrent HCC after hepatectomy but with fewer non-tumour-related deaths, major complications and shorter hospital stays.