• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Comparison of Microwave and Radiofrequency Ablation for the Treatment of Small- and Medium-Sized Hepatocellular Carcinomas in a Prospective Randomized Trial
  • Contributor: Vogl, Thomas J.; Martin, Simon S.; Gruber-Rouh, Tatjana; Booz, Christian; Koch, Vitali; Nour-Eldin, Nour-Eldin A.; Hussainy, Said M. N.
  • imprint: Georg Thieme Verlag KG, 2023
  • Published in: RöFo - Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Röntgenstrahlen und der bildgebenden Verfahren
  • Language: German
  • DOI: 10.1055/a-2203-2733
  • ISSN: 1438-9029; 1438-9010
  • Keywords: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:p> Purpose To compare the therapeutic response and clinical outcome of CT-guided percutaneous microwave (MWA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of small- and medium-sized HCC.</jats:p><jats:p> Materials and Methods In this prospective trial, 50 patients with HCC were randomly assigned to MWA or RFA treatment. MRI was performed 24 h before and after ablation and subsequently in 3-month intervals. Ablation volumes, ablation durations, adverse events (AE), technique efficacy, technical success, local tumor progression (LTP), disease-free survival (DFS), intrahepatic distant recurrence (IDR), and overall survival (OS) rates were evaluated.</jats:p><jats:p> Results The mean ablation volume was 66.5 cm³ for MWA and 29.2  cm³ for RFA (p &lt; 0.01). The mean ablation durations for MWA and RFA were 11.2 ± 4.0 min and 16.3 ± 4.7 min, respectively (p &lt; 0.01). Six mild AEs were documented (p &gt; 0.05). All treatments had a technical success rate and a technique efficacy rate of 100 % (50/50, p = 1.00). LTP within 2 years occurred in 1/25 (4 %) in the MWA group and in 4/25 (16 %) in the RFA group (p = 0.06). IDR within 2 years was 8/25 (32 %) for MWA and 14/25 (56 %) for RFA (p &lt; 0.05). The median DFS was 24.5 months and 13.4 months for MWA and RFA, respectively (p = 0.02). The 1-, 2-, 3-year OS rates were 100 %, 80 %, 72 % in the MWA group and 72 %, 64 %, 60 % in the RFA group, respectively (p ≥ 0.14).</jats:p><jats:p> Conclusion The clinical outcome after MWA or RFA for HCC treatment was very similar with no significant differences in LTP or OS. However, MWA shows a trend toward better DFS with fewer IDRs than RFA.</jats:p><jats:p> Key Points: </jats:p>