Percutaneous ablation of the tumor feeding artery for hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma before tumor ablation

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency and safety of percutaneous ablation of the tumor feeding artery (PAA) before radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) under ultrasound guidance. Patients and methods: In total, 94 patients with hypervascular HCC and tumor feeding artery visible by contrast-enhanced ultrasound were prospectively randomized to receive either PAA combined with RFA (RFA + PAA) or RFA alone. This study was registered at the clinical trials registry website (No. NCT03143140). The mean tumor size was 3.2 ± 0.9 cm (2.0–5.0 cm). The mean follow-up was 23.7 ± 9.7 months (4–44 months). The technical success, local tumor progression and intrahepatic distant recurrence rates were compared. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. Results: The local tumor progression rate was lower for the PAA + RFA group than for the RFA group (8.5% vs 21.3%, p =.082). No significant differences in the technical success and intrahepatic distant recurrence rates were observed between the two groups (97.9% vs 91.5%, p =.203 and 40.4% vs 42.6%, p =.834). The 1- and 3-year local tumor progression-free survival rates were 91.5% and 69.9% vs 68.1% and 52.1% for the PAA + RFA vs RFA groups, respectively (p =.052). The 1- and 3-year overall survival rates were 95.7% and 69.1% vs 89.4% and 66.6% in the PAA + RFA vs RFA groups, respectively (p =.744). The major complication rate was 4.3% in both groups. Conclusions: PAA appears to be an effective and safe technique for the treatment of hypervascular HCC, with a lower local tumor progression rate than that of conventional RFA.