Radiofrequency ablation of colorectal liver metastases: mid-term results in 68 patients

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and medium-term survival, after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA), in patients suffering from hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer.

Patients and methods: Between 2000 and 2004, 68 patients (42 men, 26 women; mean age 63 years, range: 38-87 years), with non-resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer, were treated by RFA subsequently or parallel to chemotherapy. The procedures were mainly performed under conscious sedation and local anesthesia using computed tomography fluoroscopy guidance. The number of lesions, the primary success rate, complications, follow-up time and disease-free survival, as well as the local recurrence rate, were evaluated.

Results: One-hundred and eighty-three metastases with a mean diameter of 22.8 mm (5-50 mm) in 68 patients (2.7 +/- 1.1 lesions / patient) were successfully treated using RFA. No major complications and only 4 minor complications were noted. Over an average follow-up period of 21.4 +/- 10.6 months (range, 8 to 38 months), Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a probability of 82% of remaining locally disease-free and a probability of 68% of surviving the first 38 months after treatment.

Conclusion: For patients with non-resectable hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer, RFA is a safe option in a multimodal treatment concept and may lead to an improvement in survival.