Clinical outcome of percutaneous RF-ablation of non-operable patients with liver metastasis from breast cancer

Abstract

Purpose: Despite improved anti-neoplastic treatment the prognosis for patients with liver metastases from metastatic breast cancer remains poor.

Materials and methods: Thirty-two consecutive patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) at the Department of Oncology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, from 1996 to 2010.

Results: Time to intrahepatic progression was median 11 months (range 1.6-184 months). Median survival after first RFA was 33.5 months. Survival at 1, 2 and 3 years was 87, 68 and 48 %, respectively. The local recurrence rate was 22 %.

Conclusions: In this small, highly selected cohort we found RFA safe and efficacious with a low local recurrence rate and a median survival above that expected with systemic treatment. Our data are in line with previous studies and underscore the need for a large prospective study using optimal chemotherapy regimens and RFA/surgery to clarify whether intense treatment protocols can prolong survival for certain patient groups.