Abstract
Introduction
A single-center nonrandomized clinical trial was performed to assess the safety and
efficacy of IRE ablation of liver tumors in humans.
Methods
38 malignant liver tumors on 30 patients were treated with IRE between September 2011
and September 2014. Treatment was with curative intent, and the diagnoses were colorectal
cancer with liver metastases (CRLM) (n = 23), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (n = 8)
and other metastasis (n = 7). Patients were selected when surgery, radiofrequency
ablation (RFA) or microwave ablation (MWA) was not an option, and when they met inclusion
criteria (tumor size < 3 cm, 1–2 tumors). Patients were followed-up at 1 and 6 months
with a contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT), and contrast-enhanced ultrasound
(CE-US) at 3 months.
Results
Ablation success was defined as no evidence of residual tumor in the ablated area
as confirmed by CE-CT and CE-US. At 3 months ablation success was 78.9%, and 65.8%
at 6 months. There was no statistically significant difference between tumor volume
(<5 cm3 vs >5 cm3, p = 0.518), and between diagnosis (CRLM vs HCC, p = 0.084) in terms of local recurrence.
Complications were classified according to the standardized grading system of Society
of Interventional Radiology (SIR). A minor complication occurred in six patients (20%),
one patient (3.3%) suffered from a major complication (bile duct dilatation and stricture
of the portal vein and bile duct). No mortalities occurred at 30 days.
Conclusions
IRE appears to be a safe treatment modality for a selected group of patients with
liver tumors and offers high local tumor control at 3 and 6 months.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 13, 2017
Accepted:
December 15,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.
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