B-guided radiofrenquency ablation in treating advanced large liver cancer after transcatheter arterial chemoembolizaiton therapy

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of transcatheter arterial chemoemlization (TACE), combined with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) in treating advanced large liver cancer. Methods: Sixty two patients with primary advanced liver cancer were divided into TACE group and TACE + PRFA group between June 2002 and May 2003. All patients were followed up by examinations of AFP, CT or MRI. In group TACE, 30 cases were treated with TACE. In group TACE + PRFA, 32 cases were treated with TACE and then followed by B-guided PRFA. Results: The positive rates of AFP down to negative and one-year survival rates were 42.8% and 30.0% in group TACE, vs 50.0% and 37.5% in group TACE + PRFA respectively. There were significnt statistical differences in the complete necrosis rates of tumors, but there were no significant statistical differences in the attenuation rates of positive AFP and one-year survival rates between the two groups. Conclusions: The one-year survival rate of TACE + PRFA shows not higher than that of TACE alone. (authors)