Ten-year survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation as a first-line treatment

AIM: To investigate the long-term survival and prognostic factors in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation(RFA) as a first-line treatment.METHODS: From 2000 to 2013, 316 consecutivepatients with 404 HCC(1.0-5.0 cm; mean: 3.2 ± 1.1 cm) underwent ultrasonography-guided percutaneous RFA as a first-line treatment. There were 250 males and 66 females with an average age of 60.1 ± 10.8 years(24-87 years). Patients were followed for 1 year to > 10 years after RFA(234, 181, 136, and 71 for 3, 5, 7, and 10 years, respectively). Overall local response rates and long-term survival rates were assessed. Survival results were generated using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression model. RESULTS: In total, 548 RFA sessions were performed and major complications occurred in 10 sessions(1.8%). Local tumor progression and/or new tumor development were observed in 43.3%(132/305) of the patients during the follow-up period. Overall 5-and 10-year survival rates were 49.7% and 28.4%, respectively. Based on multivariate analysis, three factors were identified as independent prognostic factors for overall survival: Child-Pugh classification(HR = 4.054, P < 0.001), portal vein hypertension(HR = 2.743, P = 0.002), and tumor number(HR = 2.693, P = 0.003). The local progression-free 5- and 10-year survival rates were 42.7% and 19.5%. In addition to the Child-Pugh classification and the number of tumors, the number of RFA sessions(HR = 1.550, P = 0.002) was associated with local progression-free survival.CONCLUSION: RFA can achieve acceptable outcomes for HCC patients as a first-line treatment, especially for patients with Child-Pugh class A, patients with a single tumor and patients without portal vein hypertension.