Radiofrequency ablation versus repeat resection for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (≤ 5 cm) after initial curative resection

Recurrence rate is up to 70% at 5 years for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after initial resection, but the management of recurrent HCC remains unclear. To compare the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and repeat resection as the first-line treatment in recurrent HCC. This multicenter retrospective study analyzed 290 patients who underwent RFA (n = 199) or repeat resection (n = 91) between January 2006 and December 2016 for locally recurrent HCC (≤ 5 cm) following primary resection. We compared the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and complications between the two treatment groups for the total cohort and the propensity score matched (PSM) cohort. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS (90.7%, 69.04%, 55.6% vs. 87.7%, 62.9%, 38.1%, p = 0.11) and PFS (56.5%, 27.9%, 14.6% vs. 50.2%, 21.9%, 19.2%, p = 0.80) were similar in the RFA group and the repeat resection group. However, RFA was superior to repeat resection in complication rate and hospital stay (p ≤ 0.001). We observed similar findings in the PSM cohort of 48 pairs of patients and when OS and PFS were measured from the time of the primary resection. The OS of the RFA group was significantly better than repeat resection group among those with 2 or 3 recurrent tumor nodules in both the total cohort (p = 0.009) and the PSM cohort (p = 0.018). RFA has the same efficacy as repeat resection in recurrent HCC patients, but with fewer complications. RFA is more efficient and safer than repeat resection in patients with 2 or 3 recurrent tumor nodules.